The ROV used for subsea installation inspection
QUINTILLION’S HISTORIC SUBSEA CABLE SYSTEM LIGHTING UP THE NORTH AMERICAN ARCTIC BY GEORGE TRONSRUE III
O
ne need only look at a world map – or a globe – to understand why Alaska’s largest city once dubbed itself the ‘air crossroads of the world.’ Starting in the 1960s, as many as seven different international airlines stopped in Anchorage to refuel on their way back and forth to Asia. Commercial airlines routinely cross the Pacific nonstop, but for cargo flights, Anchorage remains a
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major fuel stop for airlines trying to ensure maximum payload capability. FedEx and UPS both have prominent facilities at the airport, forging strategic inroads into the burgeoning Asian market. ‘Air crossroads of the cargo world’ is a moniker that still fits. Thanks to this strategic point on the globe, Alaska may soon be-
come a ‘digital crossroads of the world,’ serving as the midway point of a new fiber optic cable system that will connect Asia and Europe through North America. A few hundred miles north of Anchorage – in Alaska’s Arctic, a critical first phase of this project is already complete.
As with air travel, digital communications benefit from shorter