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Alaska's two major telecoms, General Communication, Inc. and AlaskaCommunications, have joined forces in the battle for cell phonesupremacy to pre-empt the looming entry of global wireless providerVerizon, which is preparing to burst onto the scene. On Tuesday,GCI and ACS announced they hope to combine networks to form theAlaska Wireless Network covering 95 percent of the state'spopulation. ACS and GCI, traditionally, have been competitors in Alaska forphone, cable, and cellular service. But in the face of big,national carriers entering the Alaska market, the two have becomethe mom-and-pop telecoms, despite each being a relatively sizeablecompany. Verizon Wireless, the nation's largest cell phone service provider,is poised to enter the Alaska mobile phone market late this year orearly in 2013, according to previous statements from the company.GCI spokesman David Morris called the wireless merger a"competitive response" to Verizon, which will offer coverage inevery U.S. state and territory -- in addition to internationallocales -- once it comes to Alaska. "They measure their revenue in billions, where we measure inmillions," Morris said of Verizon compared to GCI. "They measuretheir customer base in the millions, where we measure ours in thethousands." ACS spokeswoman Heather Cavanaugh said that ACS has been "preparingto compete with Verizon for quite a while." Cavanaugh said that thenew GCI-ACS partnership will form a very competitive network, evenstacked up against the likes of Verizon. Until now, Verizon subscribers in Alaska have principally roamedover the ACS network. But that's poised to change, as Verizoncontinues construction on an Alaska headquarters in midtownAnchorage, a location extremely close to ACS property . Morris also said that Verizon is already "skirmishing" for spaceon cell towers in Alaska, primarily along the road system. That's where GCI and ACS believe they have the edge -- there aren'ta lot of options for Alaska communities off the road system, andthe combination of assets between ACS and GCI strengthen thosecarriers assets in rural Alaska. That includes the huge, $88 million Terra project that GCI has undertaken in Southwest Alaska , bringing fiber optic communications to a region that has foryears relied on satellites for much of its telecommunicationsneeds. And while ACS customers could eventually benefit from that newfoundasset under the Alaska Wireless Network, GCI customers may findthemselves better connected in regions of Southeast Alaska, whereACS has some better coverage, Morris said. More than 250,000Alaskans are already subscribed to the ACS or GCI plans, accordingto the companies. Additionally, ACS and GCI have been competing for high-speedservices in recent years, with both carriers looking to beef uptheir next-generation wireless networks (often referred to as "4G"services, though that's not entirely accurate ), allowing them to compete with AT&T and Verizon. Now bothcompanies will be able to boast of a bigger weapon in that arsenal. Under conditions agreed upon by the boards of directors for bothcompanies, GCI will own two-thirds of Alaska Wireless Network, withthe remaining third belonging to ACS. GCI will purchase $100million in assets from ACS, adding them to the network, a pressrelease announcing the venture said. A joint statement from Anand Vadapalli and Ron Duncan, CEOs of ACSand GCI, respectively, played up the benefits of the new networkfor Alaska. "By combining our respective wireless assets, GCI and AlaskaCommunications can provide a state-of-the-art wireless networkowned and operated by Alaskans for Alaskans," the statement read. What does it mean for current subscribers? Well, some people maynot see much of a change, while others may see an improvement incoverage when they're at home or traveling around the state,depending on their carrier. Additionally, Morris said there ispotential on the expanded network for improved roaming service whenGCI or ACS subscribers travel to the Lower 48. The e-commerce company in China offers quality products such as China Mini Rfid , Rfid Card Reader, and more. For more , please visit Rfid Epoxy Tag today!
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