GCI Customers Adopting Super-Fast Internet 4 Times Faster than National Rate

Americans are adopting 1 gig internet faster than ever, but GCI customers are upping their home internet speeds even more quickly in Alaska. In fact, GCI customers have signed up for 1 gig internet service at four times the national rate.

An article by tech news outlet Light Reading noted the pandemic fueled demand for increased speed and capacity as Americans who were hunkered down consumed more content and many began working and learning from home. In Q1 2021, 9.8 percent of internet customers nationwide subscribed to a 1 gig plan—a 261 percent increase from the same time period during the previous year.

In contrast, nearly 40 percent of GCI’s internet customers subscribe to 1 gig service. The company attributes the dramatic difference in Alaska’s adoption rates to its advanced network and broad availability to 1 gig internet, especially in the state’s most densely populated areas.

“Alaskans, in general, have been quick to adopt new technologies, especially when it comes to connectivity, and 1 gig internet has been no different. We’re not just early adopters of the next generations of technology because we want to be, we’re early adopters because we have to be,” says GCI Chief Marketing Officer Kate Slyker.

“Delivering connectivity in a state like Alaska is challenging to say the least, but challenges breed innovation. That has always been a hallmark of GCI. We were the first to deliver 1 gig internet in the state, the first to launch 5G wireless, and we’ll be the first to bring 2 gig internet to Alaska. It may come as a surprise to many that Alaska is on the forefront of telecommunications innovation, but the truth is that this has long been the case.”

GCI provides access to 1 gig speeds to 77 percent of Alaskans. In May, company co-founder and CEO Ron Duncan announced GCI would deliver 2 gig speeds to customers in 2022 and is on track to deliver 10 gig service in the next five years.