Overview: Ron Duncan’s path to leading Alaska’s largest telecom provider began nearly five decades ago. He went to the state in 1977 after meeting Alaskans in graduate school. He settled in North Pole, Alaska, in 1978 while launching a cable television venture in Fairbanks. He and Bob Walp founded GCI in Anchorage in 1979, growing it into a 1,900‑employee company. GCI is owned by Liberty Capital Corp., a publicly traded entity controlled by broadband pioneer John Malone. Duncan has an undergraduate degree in economics from Johns Hopkins University and an MBA from Harvard. He is an avid pilot with more than 10,000 flight hours (that’s the equivalent of 416 days in the cockpit). In 2026, GCI has been opportunistic on the dealmaking front. In April, it announced the $310 million acquisition of Quintillion, an operator of subsea and terrestrial fiber networks serving Alaska. Two months later, GCI partnered with Starlink to use the LEO’s bonded gateways to strengthen connectivity needed by thousands of customers in Bethel, Sitka, Kotzebue, and Dillingham.
Question 1: Some critics claim that Alaska gets special treatment from Washington, in terms of broadband subsidies and otherwise. What do people in the Lower 48, and at the FCC, most misunderstand about what it takes to connect Alaska? And why it’s a worthy investment?
RD: Federal broadband and Universal Service policies pursue the same goal in Alaska as they do everywhere else: Ensuring Americans have access to modern communications services regardless of where they live. The difference in Alaska, however, is what is required to achieve that goal. More than 80% of Alaska’s communities aren’t connected to the road system. That fact – combined with Alaska’s vast distances, rugged terrain, extreme weather, and complex logistics – drives up the cost of every essential service here, from power and transportation to healthcare and communications. The real question is not whether Alaska is expensive. It is whether Americans believe geography should determine access to modern communications. For decades, federal policy has answered no. In Alaska, that support keeps schools, clinics, small businesses, households, and public safety users connected in small communities where the local market alone cannot carry the full cost, and it strengthens a state that is increasingly central to America’s Arctic strategy. (More after paywall)