Unalaska, AK – The proposed ArcticLink fiber optic cable from Japan to the United Kingdom would bring faster internet to Unalaska and Prudhoe Bay but not to other parts of western Alaska. The Kodiak Kenai Cable Company announced a plan to build a fiber optic express highway that connects Europe and Asia by passing through the Northwest Passage.

The route will go from Japan through the North Pacific, stop in Unalaska, go up the western coast of Alaska to Prudhoe Bay, then through the Northwest Passage, south of Greenland, to connect to London. The company's technical consultant, Ik Icard, said it's actually the shortest route between the edges of the continents.

"Really, for the first time, a telecommunications link is now possible up and over the Arctic. And the real beauty of the system is that it cuts almost in half the transmission delay for international communications."

Icard said laying the cable in the Arctic, which is covered in ice for most of the year, creates some challenges but can also be beneficial. Icard said the ice serves as a protective layer and prevents people, fishing equipment, and forces of nature from hurting the marine cable. The problems can be dealt with through engineering.

"This system has been carefully engineered to take into account ice effects, near shore particularly, and ice scouring and ice keels and we're very comfortable with the engineering solution."

Along the route the cable has to come on to land in Unalaska and Prudhoe Bay to connect with regenerators. They power the cable to keep the signal going.

"There is a low element of power that powers repeaters along the sea floor. And so power is re-injected into the system and the digital telecommunications transmission is also regenerated" at the stations on land, Icard explained.

The ArcticLink project is different from the Northern Fiber Optic Link project, which was aimed at bringing high speed internet to all of the communities in western Alaska. The Kodiak Kenai Cable Company is still waiting to hear if they will receive federal stimulus funds for that project. The ArcticLink project is completely separate and will go forward even if the NFOL project does not. That means only Unalaska and Prudhoe Bay would become part of the fiber optic network and get access to faster internet connections.

The Kodiak Kenai Cable Company, which is owned by two native corporations, will partner with international telecommunications and energy company KhaNNet to pay for the $1.2 billion project. The ArcticLink will be able to transport 6.4 terabits of information per second. Construction is scheduled to begin in 2011 and be completed by 2013.