The biggest cable TV operator in Alaska has signaled its desire to stop offering cable TV service altogether.

This week, GCI Communications began telling customers it will stop offering cable TV service in mid-2025, with the company pushing subscribers toward its broadband Internet offerings and to third-party streaming video platforms.

In the coming weeks, GCI intends to start offering customers the Xumo Stream Box as a replacement for their cable TV hardware. The Xumo Stream Box allows streamers to watch content from popular apps like Netflix, Prime Video, Disney Plus, Peacock, YouTube and Paramount Plus, and to stream live broadcast and cable channels from services like Sling TV, YouTube TV and Hulu with Live TV.

GCI affirmed it filed an application with the Regulatory Committee of Alaska earlier this month. Members of the public may comment on the application, though it is not expected to face much opposition.

The company does not disclose its cable TV subscriber count on a regular basis, but a person familiar with the matter said it has very few customers paying for TV that is accessed through a set-top box. GCI began pushing many of its cable TV and broadband customers to Yukon TV, which works on Apple TV, Android TV and Amazon Fire TV devices. Yukon TV will also be shut down when GCI ends its traditional video service, the source said.

GCI is the latest telecom to move away from traditional cable TV and focus mainly on building out and marketing its broadband Internet product. Earlier this year, Consolidated Communications affirmed plans to do the same, a move that was preceded by similar announcements from Ketchikan Public Utilities, Duo Broadband and Great Plains Communications.

Last December, the CEO of streaming marketplace MyBundle predicted more cable companies would eventually move away from pay TV platforms in favor of broadband Internet, which is a higher margin business.

“There will be hundreds of companies shutting down [their pay] TV within the next 36 months,” the CEO, Jason Cohen, said in an interview. “The Tier 2 and Tier 3 video landscape will look markedly different three years from now than it does right now, and, that’s, I think, me being a little conservative — I think it will probably happen faster than that.”