In internet-less Sitka, it's both 'mayhem' and a 'golden moment'

In Sitka, some hospital surgeries are on hold. Many shops and restaurants are operating on a cash-only basis. Contact with the outside world comes mostly through satellites.

A break in the sole cable that provides Sitka's internet and phone service has wreaked havoc on residents and businesses - and, at the same time, effectively launched a massive social and economic experiment: What happens for 8,000 people who have deeply integrated the internet into their lives, when the switch gets flipped off?

On the one hand: It's an enormous pain in the ass.

"It's mayhem," said Rebecca Himschoot, the lawmaker who represents Sitka in the Alaska House. "It's just been shocking how dependent we are on the internet and how hard it is to do daily functions without it."

On the other hand: It's a blissful reprieve from modernity.

"All over town, you see people walking around more, going to people's homes, hanging out and talking," said Jessica Ieremia, the director of Sitka's library, which has a satellite unit that's made it a hub for residents seeking internet. "We've been hearing that constantly from people, how nice it is. They're like, 'If I could just figure out the finances part.'"

The Great Sitka Outage of 2024 began Aug. 29, when telecommunications provider GCI detected a break in the sole fiber optic cable connecting the town to the outside world. Cell service, texting and internet all went down.

Since then, GCI has restored a bare minimum of voice and texting capacity using microwave and satellite services. But residents say service remains sporadic and dysfunctional.

A cable ship hired by the company has arrived to start repairs this week.

Elon Musk's satellite internet company, Starlink, appears to be a prime beneficiary. Starlink's sleek satellite receivers have been proliferating in Sitka.

The Central Council of Tlingit and Haida, sent about 15 Starlink units to Sitka the day after the outage. They were distributed to hospitals, schools, city government and rescue services, the council said in a statement. Others went to the local public radio station and newspaper.

Those weren't the only Starlink units to land in Sitka after the break.

While some businesses and residents already had Starlink before the outage, others went to great lengths to acquire them afterward.

With no systems available to purchase in Sitka, Keith Grenier hopped on a jet to Seattle. He and his business partner at a mechanical contracting business bought eight Starlink units there before flying home and "handing them out to all of the people who were behind."

Even getting on the plane in Sitka, however, was challenging. Grenier said he drove out to a remote part of town where his phone could receive data, pulled up his boarding pass on the Alaska Airlines app and took a screenshot that he could use to get past security.

"It was, like, three hours of trying to navigate this stuff just to leave the island," he said. "There were rumors about having to have a paper boarding pass."

Grenier's home, and driveway, are now hotspots for friends and family in need of cell and internet service.

Other residents are holding out as conscientious Starlink objectors, refusing to send money to a company owned by Musk - a billionaire who's increasingly aligned his politics with Donald Trump's.

For those without access to Starlink units, however, keeping up normal business can be a huge hassle.

Numerous companies are accepting only cash, while others collect customers' credit card information, then bring their payment processing devices to Starlink hotspots every hour or day to run the transactions. Himschoot said she heard from a business owner who had one of those purchases declined.

"It's one bagel sandwich," she said. "But that's a real hit when your margin's really slim."

There are long lines for cash at the bank, Himschoot added. She's also worried about constituents who may miss deadlines to apply for or renew state benefits and services. And, she added: How do elders connect to the van service to get to health care?

Certain elective procedures at Sitka's hospital, run by the SouthEast Alaska Regional Health Consortium, are also still on hold, especially for "patients with complex medical needs that require telemedicine support," according to a consortium spokesman.

GCI is providing its customers with a free month of service, a spokeswoman said. The company is also offering people what she called "alternative entertainment," since they "don't have access to their technology." It's providing free admission one day this weekend to Sitka's athletic and wellness center, as well as to a dance performance.

The library, meanwhile, has become the local watering hole, attracting scores of visitors with its free, Starlink-based internet. "People are hanging around our building 24 hours a day," said Ieremia, the director. "They're parking out on the street; the parking lot is full."

Over 10 days, nearly 900 people updated their library cards, she added, and DVDs and books have been flying off shelves. "People were hustling all over town to find a DVD player."

While the communications blackout has been "devastating" for residents who work from home, she said, it's also brought people together, with the library full of visitors "talking and sharing stories and giving advice."

"For three minutes of texting, you end up with an hour of conversation with people you haven't seen for a while - they're all there," Himschoot said. "People are just spending a lot more time doing what we used to do without the internet."

For now, she added, "It's kind of a golden moment, in some ways."

This article was originally published in Northern Journal, a newsletter from Herz. Subscribe at northernjournal.com.