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New
cell phone service opens in Unalaska
By
Jeff Richardson
Dutch
Harbor Fisherman
For the past
three years, Mark Horn has been working to bring Alaska
Wireless Communications to life.
Within a few months, his dream should be a reality.
Horn plans to
hold the grand opening for his new cell phone company on Jan
2-5, and anticipates the network will be up and running by
February.
The venture
required years of expensive planning, regulatory hurdles and
the construction of a pair of new cell towers.
Horn believes it will be worth it.
“It’s been
the hardest thing I’ve ever done.” Horn said, sitting in
his new office at the Latitude 54 building.
Horn, who is
also the owner of Pacific Stevedoring, gushes at the
possibilities he sees in the business.
For years,
Bristol Bay Cellular Partnership has held a monopoly on the
cell phone business in Unalaska.
Horn believes the community is ready for some
competition.
Horn said the
system will provide features that aren’t currently available
in Unalaska, including the eventual introduction of roaming
packages and coverage that extends 60 miles into the Bering
Sea. Those
features will be added after a certain customer threshold is
reached, but Horn said he has no doubt that will happen by
August.
He said the
company has already had strong interest from large companies
in town, even though service is still a few months away.
“With the amount of people walking through the door
every day, we’re going to reach our threshold very
quickly,” he said. “We
set these dates to make sure we could meet them.”
Alaska Wireless
also will operate on a digital system, instead of the analog
cell phones that have typically been used in the U.S.
That will require the purchase of a new cell phone for
most customers who use the network, but Horn said it will
allow him to offer more reliable service.
The project
hasn’t been cheap, with about $500,000 in private investment
already in the company. That
has paid for new towers at Haystack Hill and OSI, with another
planned for Ballyhoo Mountain this summer.
“Worst case,
I’ve overbuilt my system and it’ll be longer before I need
to upgrade it.” Horn said.
The introduction
of a new cell phone company also will mean a new telephone
prefix for Unalaska, which hasn’t been determined yet.
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