FCC Clears GCI’s Quintillion Acquisition Office of International Affairs, Federal Communications CommissionOctober 20, 2026 The Federal Communications Commission has approved, subject to conditions, GCI Holdings LLC’s proposed acquisition of indirect control of Quintillion Subsea Operations, clearing a regulatory step for the $310 million transaction. In an order released October 20, 2026, the FCC’s Office of International Affairs authorized the transfer of control of Quintillion’s cable landing license from Q Gateway Ultimate Holdings LLC and denied Alaska Communications Systems Holding’s petition to deny. The approval includes pricing and access safeguards aimed at addressing competitive concerns in Alaska’s wholesale connectivity market. Quintillion’s 1,176 mile submarine system connects Prudhoe Bay, Utqiagvik/Barrow, Wainwright, Point Hope, Kotzebue, and Nome, with access to the Lower 48 through leased capacity. The network has six cable landing station sites and three fiber pairs, each with an initial design capacity of 10 Tbps. Two pairs are active across the network and provide redundancy; one remains available for future demand. Under the purchase agreement, GCI would acquire all interests in Quintillion’s intermediate holding company, with the price subject to adjustments. GCI will also reimburse up to $50 million in qualifying capital spending for Nome to Homer Express, with additional earnouts possible if financial targets are met. For Alaska’s submarine cable industry, the decision balances potential network efficiencies against the risks of greater concentration. GCI’s subsidiaries already operate seven submarine cable systems serving Alaska, and the FCC recognized possible upward pricing pressure from combining Alaska’s largest communications provider with Quintillion’s northern and western network. The conditions require GCI to honor and extend contracts and pricing tables in effect at closing for the system’s life, subject to limited inflation adjustments. On the rural Quintillion system and in communities where the companies’ middle-mile networks overlap, GCI must give wholesale customers access on rates and terms that are just, reasonable, and not unreasonably discriminatory. Certain wholesale and enterprise contracts must be submitted for FCC monitoring. The FCC credited potential benefits including support for completing pending projects such as Nome to Homer Express, three planned self-healing fiber rings, and proposed gateway upgrades from 10 Gbps to 100 Gbps. Those improvements remain forward-looking, not completed milestones. Quintillion Subsea would retain ownership of the physical cable segments and landing stations, and the applicants did not expect immediate network configuration or landing arrangement changes. The order became effective upon release, with petitions for reconsideration or applications for review permitted within 30 days. The grant also requires continued compliance with Quintillion’s 2024 National Security Agreement; regulatory approval does not establish that the acquisition has closed. View source The post FCC Clears GCI’s Quintillion Acquisition appeared first on SubTel Forum.