Internet, cell services down for most of Sitka

Sitka’s Lincoln Street connected June 21, 2023. (Rich McClear/KCAW)

Most net and compartment services went down successful Stika Thursday greeting soon aft 11 a.m.

Sitkans who reached retired to nan GCI customer work line  to study nan wide net and compartment work outage sewage a connection that said “GCI is alert of nan outage that is affecting net and TV work wrong nan O’Malley area successful Anchorage and Sitka.”

Sitka had 4,000 cruise passengers connected Thursday. Many businesses reported having to edifice to cash-only transactions to make sales. 

Around 2 p.m. connected Thursday, nan lights were connected astatine nan AT&T shop successful downtown Sitka, but nan doorway was locked and a motion connected nan doorway publication “Network down, No ETA.”

But, not each web is down. Melissa Henshaw is nan nationalist and authorities affairs head astatine Sitka City Hall. She said nan metropolis is utilizing Starlink arsenic a backup net provider, and correct now it’s working. 

Henshaw said nan metropolis was capable to get immoderate accusation astir nan outage from GCI aft their IT head reached out. She said they’re moving arsenic difficult arsenic they tin to get things backmost up and running. 

The past clip Sitka knowledgeable a awesome net outage was successful 2016. At nan time, KCAW reported that work was impacted for 12 days owed to a damaged fibre optic cablegram astatine nan bottommost of nan oversea floor. So far, nan logic for this outage is unclear. 

This is simply a processing story.