For the Michels Underground Cable, Inc. crew members who have been building fiber optic networks and fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) connections since 2007, permafrost—and the mud it causes—is part of a day’s work.
In 2024 alone, the crews built 23 miles of fiber optic transmission line and 285 FTTH connections from Glennallen to Nelchina in Alaska’s Copper Valley to bring high-speed communication networks to remote businesses and residents. Most of the cable is pulled into protective innerduct conduit after it is plowed underground by specially equipped bulldozers. In environmentally sensitive areas and water crossings, directional drilling is used to place conduit.
For each FTTP connection, the crew contacts the property owner, discusses the work, installs the cable underground, and connects it into the home or business. Unlike urban areas, there can be several miles between homes in Copper Valley, making reliable internet connectivity extremely important as a means of communication and commerce.
The crew also completed 7 miles of fiber optic transmission line construction in the Mentasta region, which is 100 northeast of Glennallen.
These projects are prime examples of what it takes to work in Alaska’s remote areas, where quick access to supplies and equipment is limited. Planning, communication and resourcefulness are essential in a location where a delivery can take weeks instead of hours. The crew members rely on one another as coworkers and as a second family with whom they spend time nearly every day from late spring to early fall.
To better serve the Last Frontier, Michels maintains an office in Anchorage for all members of the Michels Family of Companies, which serves as a waypoint for scouting jobsites, bidding on work, and coming and going from a wide variety of projects across the vast state. Those projects might include working on pipelines, supporting renewable energy projects such as wind farms, dredging one of Alaska’s more than one million lakes, building roads and bridges throughout the state, and as mentioned above, installing high-speed communication networks.
We were honored to receive the Greater Copper Valley Chamber of Commerce’s 2024 Community Support Award for installing a state-of-the-art fiber optic network in the Copper River Valley and Valdez areas over the past 17 years. The award recognized the quality of our work, support of local businesses and hiring of local talent.
Despite the cold and challenging nature of working in Alaska, Michels continues to provide safe and environmentally responsible solutions to the warm, welcoming people who live there.
