Alaska Communications Quitting Wireless

Alaska Communications, a postpaid and prepaid wireless and broadband carrier in the Alaska region, has announced that they are bowing out of the cell phone service industry and will be selling their wireless assets, AWN network venture and subscriber base to General Communication, Inc (GCI). The deal is worth around $300 million and is expected to be closed sometime in the first quarter of 2015. Customers of Alaska Communications should be transferred over to GCI after the sale in early 2015, and additional action by customers is not necessary. In a statement, Alaska Communications said that contracts and pricing will not change right now, and that that they will continue service as usual until the change takes place. Alaska Wireless has, according to the Fierce Wireless article, around 109,000 customers as of the end of September 2014. Since the summer of last year, Alaska Communications and GCI have been jointly operating the Alaska Wireless Network (AWN) in order to try and compete with the other network carriers encroaching on the icy state. Alaska Communications will continue to offer other services such as broadband and said that the money from the deal will go towards paying off debt and investing in broadband internet options. For more information, check out the Alaska Wireless press release or contact Alaska Wireless customer service at 1-800-808-8083 or via live chat on their website.]]>