PUBLIC NOTICE OF COPPER RETIREMENT
Sterling Highway MP 45–46.5, Cooper Landing, Alaska • Pursuant to 47 CFR § 51.332
Carrier: Interior Telephone Company dba Fastwyre Broadband
Carrier Address: 201 E. 56th Avenue, Anchorage, Alaska 99518
Date of Notice: June 3, 2026
Public Notice Location: https://fastwyre.com/public-notice-of-copper-retirement/
Description of Planned Network Change
Interior Telephone Company dba Fastwyre Broadband (the “Company”), intends to retire aerial and underground copper telecommunications facilities along approximately 8,000 linear feet of the Sterling Highway in Cooper Landing, Alaska, and to continue providing service over fiber-to-the-home (“FTTH”) loops that have been deployed in the affected area in advance of cutover. The copper retirement is associated with the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities (“AKDOT&PF”) in connection with the Sterling Highway MP 45–60 Sunrise to Skilak Lake Road Reconstruction, Stage 1B project (AKDOT&PF Project No. 0A33029/ CFHWY00694), under Utility Agreement No. 1-CFHWY00694-24-02 executed July 1, 2025.
Location of Planned Network Changes
Sterling Highway between approximate mileposts 45 and 46.5, Cooper Landing, Alaska. The change affects approximately 8,000 linear feet of right-of-way and 22 service addresses. Seven of those addresses are presently active retail customers of the Company.
Implementation Schedule
- AKDOT&PF Stage 1B construction: commenced May 4, 2026
- Fiber drop placement to affected premises: commenced the week of May 11, 2026
- Customer cutovers to fiber service: to be completed the week of June 11, 2026
- AKDOT&PF removal of copper plant: scheduled to commence in June 2026
Description of the Change
The aerial and underground copper plant along the affected stretch will be physically removed by AKDOT&PF in connection with the highway reconstruction. The Company has installed FTTH facilities throughout the affected area in advance of the relocation and is migrating each affected end-user customer from copper-served voice and data service to equivalent fiber-served voice and data service at the customer’s existing rates, terms, and service features. No service is being discontinued, reduced, or impaired.
Reasonably Foreseeable Impact on Telephone Exchange Service Providers
No adverse impact on the ability of any interconnected telephone exchange service provider to provide services is anticipated. The Company has no CLEC unbundled-loop tenants on the facilities affected. Voice service to retail end users will continue to be available without interruption other than a brief, scheduled cutover window to transfer the service from the copper to the fiber facility.
Technical Specifications Required to Accommodate the Change
Not applicable. Because no interconnected carrier is presently provisioning services over the affected copper facilities, no technical specifications are required of any interconnecting carrier to accommodate the change.
Reason for Compressed Implementation Schedule
The implementation schedule is governed by the AKDOT&PF Stage 1B construction schedule, including the State’s scheduled removal of the existing copper plant in early June 2026, after which the copper facilities will no longer be available to provide service. The Company has worked since execution of the utility agreement to plan, engineer, and deploy replacement fiber facilities and to minimize customer disruption within the constraints set by the State’s construction schedule.
Contact Information
Regulatory Contact: Stacy Hartman, SVP Regulatory Affairs (720)370-2070, shartman@fastwyre.com
911/Network Operations: Kim Czak, SVP Operations, (585)-746-4802, kczak@fastwyre.com
Project / Technical Contact: Austin Murphy, Alaska Market Manager, (907) 563-2003, amurphy@fastwyre.com
This public notice is provided pursuant to 47 CFR § 51.332 and the network change disclosure requirements of the Federal Communications Commission. This notice will remain posted on Fastwyre’s publicly accessible Internet site at the URL identified above for the duration of the implementation period.
