The long-time Alaskan telecommunications provider, GCI, will be discontinuing the email service it has provided to customers for nearly 30 years.
As to why the company made the decision to shut their email down, GCI spokesperson, Heather Handyside explained in a phone interview;
“It’s a combination of things. First of all, we started the service in the mid 90s. E-mail was really kind of taking hold, and since that time fewer and fewer people have requested gci.net emails.”
In a draft fact document posted online – which was actually intended for release at a later date, and posted by mistake – GCI will decommission its gci.net service sometime next year. The document offers preemptive responses to questions customers will likely ask, suggestions on alternative emails they could use (Outlook, Yahoo, and iCloud), and instructions on how they can begin transitioning away from their gci.net account now. Handyside echoed this, saying;
“There’s all kinds of threats to the network with security measures that need to be put in place, and it’s a really sophisticated venture to do that. So, as it’s become more and more complicated, we’ve realized that’s probably not the best business for us to be in because there are so many alternatives for folks.”
So, what about the people who have been using the service since the mid-90’s? Many of those are folks who started using the internet when the wide web first rolled out, and have remained committed to the first web-based services they used. (It’s probably safe to assume a significant portion of the existing and active gci.net accounts fall well within this demographic). What aid will be offered to help anyone who may lack the technical expertise to transition away from a service of which they may possess only a rudimentary understanding?
Cathy Hiebert, executive director of the Alaska Broadcasters Association, which serves over 120 radio and TV stations across the state, has been using a GCI email since 2008. The ABA was founded in 1964, and has used a gci.net email as long as Hiebert can remember. According to her, she has had “no complaints” with the service, which she describes as “useful, and effective,” and adds that any issues she ever experienced “were typically resolved very quickly.”
That being said, Hiebert will be in the same boat as many other customers. Namely, customers who aren’t “tech people,” and fear they will struggle with a potential transition to a new email service.
“There is no IT department at the ABA. I’m the only employee and I am not a tech person, so finding and determining what other service to use – because I have Outlook. I will need some outside assistance, whether it’s hired assistance, or the mercy of someone who’s good at this stuff, to get me migrated over.
Like many others, no doubt, Hiebert has her GCI email linked to Outlook. The Microsoft email hosting service can be connected to a parent email, like gci.net, allowing customers to use Outlook, but really it’s their GCI service being channeled into that inbox.
Will there be any help from GCI for folks like Hiebert? Not really. At least according to Handyside, although there may be some general aid offered.
“I think that we probably assume that whatever path the customer took to forward that e-mail there in the first place, they would just take the opposite path to disconnect it,” she says. “We do have some fact sheets available for folks and we’ll have more resources available on our website. We may even hold some town halls or have some videos available that shows people step by step.”
What about a course alteration? Is there any way GCI might reverse its decision, and instead keep the email service? Also no.
“It would have to be extremely compelling and a data point that we haven’t already examined,” Handyside said. “Again, anytime we make a big business decision like this, there are dozens of people involved. It’s months of decision making. There is data that we collect on it and so we don’t come to the decision lightly. So I would be surprised if there’s any information that someone could bring to our attention that would change our mind.”
Handyside said customers should anticipate their email being discontinued in mid to late 2024.
Although the company stopped offering the service to new customers in 2015, more than 40,000 people still use a GCI email.