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Company ProfileWho We AreAT&T Alascom is a pioneer, committed to the future of Alaska, its people, and communities.
In this Last Frontier spanning 367 million acres and five distinct regions, the services we provide extend beyond communications. Over the past century, Alaskans have come to regard AT&T Alascom as a way of life.
The company, long known as Alascom, became AT&T Alascom when it was acquired by AT&T from Pacific Telecom in 1995. Today, the pioneering legacy flourishes and the record of innovation continues. As we forge through the 21st century, we remain Alaska's first choice for long distance service. Our pioneering history now extends to the satellites and fiber optics that link Alaska's homes and businesses to each other and the world. Making it all happen are some 300 AT&T Alascom employees based statewide. We are Alaska's trusted source for a new generation of global telecommunications services. Our Network
In the early days, Alaska's long distance traffic totaled five million calls annually. Our network now handles more than 200 million calls per year. In the development of our network, dedicated workers with a can-do spirit overcame the formidable challenges of the Alaskan frontier and now the frontier of outer space. Generations of problem solvers have worked together to understand and protect the environment, applying the latest technology to expand and enhance Alaska's communications networks. Each AT&T Alascom success is but a prelude to the next advance.
AT&T Alascom Earth Stations Map Our HistoryAT&T Alascom's earliest predecessor had its origins in the Alaska Gold Rush when prospectors flooded Alaska and communication was as fast as overland transportation could carry a message. Earliest Years: WAMCATS
In 1900, Congress authorized the U.S. Army Signal Corps to build the Washington-Alaska Military Cable and Telegraph System (WAMCATS), linking Alaska with the national telegraph system. The first operational link was the 25-mile line from Nome to Port Safety. A few years later, the U.S. Army completed the first trans-Alaska telegraph line from Eagle to Nome, a project headed by then-Lt. Billy Mitchell, who declared: "Alaska is now open to civilization." Overland lines soon stretched from Seward to Anchorage and north into the Interior, following the Alaska Railroad. Repairmen traveled by dogsled to check on the lines until the 1930s, when submarine cables supplemented by radio links slowly replaced the talking wire. To reflect the changing technology, Congress renamed WAMCATS the Alaska Communications System (ACS) in 1935. 1940s: ModernizationThe U.S. Army quickly completed the new system after the outbreak of World War II, creating Alaska's first and only long distance network. After the war, the system underwent rapid modernization. Wireless stations replaced landlines. The backbone of Alaska's system, the telegraph, began phasing out and service dramatically improved with the 1946 introduction of TTY, technology similar to that in operation today. Meanwhile, civilian access and use increased sharply. Statehood and TransitionAlaska became the 49th state January 3, 1959.
In 1971, RCA Corporation purchased ACS, which became RCA Alascom. This signaled a new era of telecommunications in Alaska and the transition from an all-military system to a commercial long distance carrier. RCA Alascom worked closely with the state government to establish telecom service in each village of more than 25 people. The system and technology deployed became the worldwide model for solving rural communications needs. In 1979, Pacific Power & Light Company purchased RCA Alascom. Soon thereafter, Alascom ventured into outer space, launching the telecommunications satellite Aurora I from Cape Canaveral, Florida. Alascom achieved several firsts with the launch:
Aurora II, launched in 1991 to replace Aurora I, enhanced Alascom's reach and quality of long distance service, which began running through a new fiber optic telecommunications cable, linking Alaska to the Lower 48 and Japan. AT&T AlascomAT&T purchased Alascom in 1995, giving AT&T Alascom the resources and support to continue its expansion and enhancement of telecommunications services. By 1996, the 13th 4ESS switch in AT&T's worldwide network was completed in Alaska. That same year, AT&T Alascom introduced the collect call offer 1 800 CALL ATT. Local service to Anchorage residents and AT&T Worldnet Service throughout the state was inaugurated in 1997. Today into TomorrowIn the new century, AT&T Alascom continues its pioneering ways:
But our vision is not complete. We are steadily focused on new technologies that will enhance our communications capabilities well into the next generation and beyond.
In 2005 we joined forces with SBC Communications Inc. to form AT&T, Inc., making AT&T Alascom part of the largest telecommunications company in the U.S. and one of the largest companies in the world. This merger will enable us to enhance our technology while still providing the friendly, local, personalized service that Alaskans have come to expect. AT&T Alascom has consistently brought the best of telecommunications to Alaska. Here at AT&T Alascom, we are proud to have been an integral part of Alaska's rich history and we are proudly working to be your first choice for telecommunications services on the Last Frontier. View the AT&T Alascom Timeline. |
As Alaska's first communications company, we have been connecting people and places and creating opportunity since 1900. We began as the Washington-Alaska Military Cable and Telegraph System (WAMCATS), stringing a "talking wire" linked to a submarine cable that eventually connected Seattle with Juneau, Sitka, and Valdez.
AT&T Alascom operates more than 350 sites statewide - microwave and satellite communications stations providing virtually every community in Alaska domestic and international long distance connections. The company's determination to deliver service to all Alaskans has resulted in one of the largest satellite networks for telephone service in the world.
The Klondike and Bonanza Creek gold strikes made some wealthy and left others destitute. There was a critical need for law and order because local communities were overrun with prospectors. There was a related need for fast communications.
