Document



UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549

SCHEDULE 14A INFORMATION

Proxy Statement Pursuant to Section 14(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (Amendment No. N/A)

Filed by the Registrant x

Filed by a Party other than the Registrant o

Check the appropriate box:
o	Preliminary Proxy Statement
o	Confidential, for Use of the Commission Only (as permitted by Rule 14a-6(e)(2))
x	Definitive Proxy Statement
o	Definitive Additional Materials
o	Soliciting Material under §240.14a-12

General Communication, Inc.
(Name of Registrant as Specified In Its Charter)

N/A
(Name of Person(s) Filing Proxy Statement, if other than the Registrant)

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General Communication, Inc. Notice of 2017

Annual Meeting and Proxy Statement

May 16, 2017

Re: 2017 Annual Meeting of Shareholders

of General Communication, Inc.

Dear Shareholder:

The board of directors of General Communication, Inc. cordially invites and encourages you to attend our 2017 annual meeting of shareholders. The meeting will be held at the Land's End Hotel at 4786 Homer Spit Road in Homer, Alaska at 5:30 p.m. (Alaska Daylight Time) on Monday, June 26, 2017. Our board has chosen the close of business on May 1, 2017 as the record date for determining the shareholders entitled to notice of, and to vote at, the meeting. Please join us for a reception preceding the meeting, starting at 5:00 p.m.

Copies of the Notice of Annual Meeting of Shareholders, Proxy Statement and Proxy Card are enclosed covering the formal business to be conducted at the meeting. We have also made available a copy of our annual report to shareholders in the form of our Form 10-K, for the year ended December 31, 2016 as filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. We encourage you to read all of this information.

As in the past, we will be using the notice and access method of providing proxy materials and our annual report to you via the Internet. On or about May 16, 2017, we will deliver to our shareholders a Notice of Internet Availability of Proxy Materials containing instructions on how to access our proxy statement and annual report and to vote electronically via the Internet. That notice also contains instructions on how to receive a paper copy of our proxy materials.

We encourage you to take part in our corporate affairs by voting on the business to come before the meeting. Regardless of the number of shares you own, your careful consideration of, and vote on, these matters are important. Whether or not you plan to attend the meeting, please vote electronically via the Internet or by telephone, or, if you requested a paper copy of the proxy materials, please complete, sign, date and return the accompanying Proxy Card in the enclosed postage-paid envelope. See, “About the Annual Meeting” in the Proxy Statement for more details.

In addition to conducting formal business at the meeting, we will also review our activities over the past year and our plans for the future. We hope you will be able to join us.

Sincerely,



Ronald A. Duncan
President and Chief Executive Officer

NOTICE OF ANNUAL MEETING OF SHAREHOLDERS

TO BE HELD ON JUNE 26, 2017

May 16, 2017

To the Shareholders of

General Communication, Inc.

You are cordially invited to attend the 2017 annual meeting of shareholders (“Annual Meeting”) of General Communication, Inc. (“Company”, “we”, “our”, “us”). Our Annual Meeting will be held at the Land's End Hotel at 4786 Homer Spit Road in Homer, Alaska at 5:30 p.m. (Alaska Daylight Time) on Monday, June 26, 2017. At our Annual Meeting, shareholders will consider and vote upon the following matters:


•	Electing three directors, each for a three year term, as part of Class I of our classified board of directors.


•	Ratifying the appointment of Grant Thornton LLP as the Company’s independent registered public accounting firm for the year ended December 31, 2017.


•	Approving, as an advisory vote only, the compensation of our Named Executive Officers as disclosed in our proxy statement for the Annual Meeting.


•	Voting, as an advisory vote only, on whether shareholder advisory votes on compensation of our named executive officers as identified in our proxy statement ought to occur every one, two or three years.


•	Transacting such other business as may properly come before the Annual Meeting and any adjournment or adjournments of it.

The above matters are more fully described in the accompanying Proxy Statement. Please join us for a reception starting at 5:00 p.m.

The close of business on May 1, 2017 has been fixed as the record date for the Annual Meeting (“Record Date”). Only holders of shares of our Class A common stock and Class B common stock of record as of that date will be entitled to notice of, and to vote at, the Annual Meeting or any adjournment or adjournments of it.

The accompanying Proxy Card is solicited by our board. The enclosed Proxy Statement contains further information with regard to the business to be transacted at our Annual Meeting. A list of our shareholders as of the Record Date will be kept at the offices of the Company at 2550 Denali Street, Suite 1000, Anchorage, Alaska 99503 for a period of 30 days prior to our Annual Meeting and will be subject to inspection by any of our shareholders at any time during normal business hours.

The presence and voting of your shares in the Company at our Annual Meeting is important. You can vote your shares electronically via the internet or by telephone or by completing and returning the Proxy Card if you requested paper proxy materials. Voting instructions are provided in the Notice of Internet Availability of Proxy Materials, or, if you requested paper proxy materials, the instructions are printed on your Proxy Card and included in the accompanying Proxy Statement. You can revoke a proxy at any time prior to its exercise at our Annual Meeting by following the instructions in the Proxy Statement.

BY ORDER OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS



Peter J. Pounds, Secretary

IMPORTANT NOTICE REGARDING AVAILABILITY OF PROXY MATERIALS FOR OUR ANNUAL SHAREHOLDER MEETING TO BE HELD ON JUNE 26, 2017.

This Notice of Annual Meeting, the Proxy Statement and Annual Report to Shareholders are available on the internet at www.proxyvote.com.

GENERAL COMMUNICATION, INC.

2017 ANNUAL MEETING

PROXY STATEMENT

TABLE OF CONTENTS



	Page
ABOUT THE ANNUAL MEETING	1
MATTERS TO BE VOTED UPON	7
Director Elections	8
Ratification of Appointment of External Accountant	8
Other Business	10
GOVERNANCE OF COMPANY	10
Directors and Executive Officers	10
Board and Its Committees; Meetings	13
Director Independence	19
Board Leadership Structure and Role in Risk Oversight	19
Compensation Committee Interlocks and Insider Participation	21
Compensation Committee Report	21
Director Compensation	22
Compensation Consultant, Legal and Other Adviser Independence	22
Litigation and Regulatory Matters	22
COMPENSATION DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS	23
Overview	23
Principles of the Compensation Program	24
Process	24
Elements of Compensation	25
Performance Rewarded	30
Timing of Equity Awards	30
Tax and Accounting Treatment of Executive Compensation	31
Compensation Policies and Practices in Relation to Our Risk Management	31
Shareholder Advisory Votes on Executive Compensation	31
EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION	32
Summary Compensation Table	32
Grants of Plan-Based Awards Table	34
Outstanding Equity Awards at Fiscal Year-End Table	35
Option Exercises and Stock Vested Table	37
Potential Payments upon Termination or Change-in-Control	37
NONQUALIFIED DEFERRED COMPENSATION	37
Deferred Compensation Arrangements	37
CODE OF BUSINESS CONDUCT AND ETHICS	37
CERTAIN TRANSACTIONS	38
Transactions with Related Persons	38
Review Procedure for Transactions with Related Persons	39
OWNERSHIP OF COMPANY	40
Principal Shareholders	40
Securities Authorized for Issuance under Equity Compensation Plans	42
Section 16(a) Beneficial Ownership Reporting Compliance	42
AUDIT COMMITTEE REPORT	43
RELATIONSHIP WITH OUR INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM	43
Overview	43
Pre-Approval Policies and Procedures	43
Fees and Services	44
ANNUAL REPORT	44
SHAREHOLDER COMMUNICATIONS	44
Householding	45
FUTURE SHAREHOLDER PROPOSALS AND RECOMMENDATIONS	45
Bylaw Requirements for Shareholder Nominations and Other Proposals	45
Use of Discretionary Authority in Connection with Shareholder Nominations and Proposals	46
Inclusion of Shareholder Proposals in Company Proxy Materials	46
Recommendations	46

PROXY STATEMENT

May 16, 2017

We are providing these proxy materials in connection with the 2017 annual shareholder meeting (“Annual Meeting”) for General Communication, Inc. (unless the context otherwise requires, includes its direct and indirect subsidiaries and is referred to as “Company,” “we,” “us” or “our”). The Notice of Internet Availability of Proxy Materials (“Internet Notice”), this Proxy Statement, any accompanying Proxy Card or voting instruction card (“Voting Instruction Card”) and our annual report for 2016 on Form 10-K (“Annual Report”) were first made available to our shareholders on or about May 16, 2017. This Proxy Statement contains important information for you to consider when deciding how to vote on the matters brought before the Annual Meeting. Please read it carefully.

ABOUT THE ANNUAL MEETING

Where and when is the meeting to be held?

The Company’s board of directors has called our Annual Meeting to be held at the Land's End Hotel at 4786 Homer Spit Road in Homer, Alaska at 5:30 p.m. (Alaska Daylight Time) on Monday, June 26, 2017. A reception for our shareholders will begin at 5:00 p.m. at that location.

Who is soliciting my vote?

Our board of directors is soliciting your vote for the Annual Meeting. We invite you to attend the Annual Meeting and request that you vote on the election of directors and another proposal described in this Proxy Statement. Regardless of whether you intend to attend the Annual Meeting, we ask that you complete your Proxy Card or Voting Instruction Card, as the case may be, or otherwise vote electronically as described in the Internet Notice.

What materials are provided to me by the board in this solicitation?

The board has made available to you, as described in the Internet Notice and in conjunction with our Annual Meeting, the Letter to Shareholders, Notice of Annual Meeting, this Proxy Statement, Proxy Card and Annual Report in the form of Form 10-K. Exhibits to the Annual Report are not included with it. However, the Annual Report includes a list briefly describing all of those exhibits. We will furnish a copy of an exhibit to the Annual Report to a shareholder upon written request to us and payment of a fee to cover our expenses in furnishing that exhibit.

Who is entitled to vote at the Annual Meeting?

The board has chosen the close of business on May 1, 2017 as the record date for our Annual Meeting (“Record Date”). All shareholders who own shares of Company common stock as of the Record Date may attend and vote at our Annual Meeting.

What is the purpose of the Annual Meeting?

You will be voting on the following matters:


•	Electing three individuals as directors, each for a three-year term, as part of Class I of our ten member classified board of directors, as identified in the Proxy Card and this Proxy Statement.


•	Ratifying the appointment of Grant Thornton LLP (“Grant Thornton”) as the Company’s independent registered public accounting firm (“External Accountant”) for year ended December 31, 2017.


•	Approving, as an advisory vote only, compensation of the Named Executive Officers as identified in this Proxy Statement.


•	Voting, as an advisory vote only, on whether shareholder advisory votes on compensation of our named executive officers as identified in our proxy statement ought to occur every one, two or three years.


•	Adoption of the minutes of the June 27, 2016 annual meeting and transacting such other business as may properly come before the meeting and any adjournment or adjournments of it.

Adoption of the minutes of the June 27, 2016 annual meeting does not constitute approval or disapproval of any of the matters referred to in the minutes.

What are the board’s recommendations on these agenda items?

The board recommends a vote —


•	For election of management’s board-nominees as directors.


•	For ratification of the appointment of Grant Thornton as our External Accountant for 2017.


•	For approval of the executive compensation of the Named Executive Officers as outlined in this Proxy Statement.


•	For the "every three years" option period between shareholder advisory votes on compensation of our named executive officers as identified in our management proxy statements.


•	For or against other matters that come before our Annual Meeting, as the proxy holders deem advisable.

What happens if additional matters are presented at the Annual Meeting?

Other than the adoption of the minutes of the 2016 annual meeting and the proposals described in this Proxy Statement, we are not aware of other business to be acted upon at the Annual Meeting. If you grant a proxy to us, the persons named as proxy holders then have the discretion to vote your shares on any additional matters properly presented for a vote at the Annual Meeting in accordance with Alaska law and our Bylaws, as revised and in effect as of the Record Date (“Bylaws”).

What are my voting rights for purposes of the Annual Meeting?

Our Company’s Articles of Incorporation, as amended and restated (“Articles”) provide for two classes of common stock: Class A for which the holder of a share is entitled to one vote, and Class B for which the holder of a share is entitled to ten votes. The Articles also provide for one or more series of preferred stock. However, as of the Record Date none of that preferred stock was outstanding.

How many shares of Company stock are outstanding and may be voted at the Annual Meeting?

On the Record Date, there were 32,982,752 shares of our Class A common stock and 3,053,005 shares of our Class B common stock outstanding and entitled to be voted at our Annual Meeting.

What are the quorum requirements for the Annual Meeting?

In order to carry out the business of a shareholder meeting, a quorum of shares entitled to vote must be present. At our Annual Meeting, a simple majority of our issued and outstanding common stock entitled to be voted as of the Record Date, represented in person or by proxy, will constitute a quorum. As an example, a quorum would be established by the presence of shareholders, directly or by proxy, holding at least 18,017,879 shares of our 36,035,757 total Class A and Class B common stock.

If a quorum is not present at the Annual Meeting, the meeting may be adjourned until a quorum is present. Broker nonvotes (described below) are counted as present for purposes of determining the presence of a quorum.

How many votes are required for approval of agenda items, and what is the impact of the voting power of the outstanding Company stock?

Because of the ten-for-one voting power of our Class B common stock, shares of that stock have a substantial impact on the voting power for purposes of taking votes on matters addressed at our Annual Meeting. The total number of votes to which our Class A common stock and our Class B common stock were entitled as of

the Record Date were 32,982,752 and 30,530,050 respectively. Under our Articles, voting on these agenda items must be by our Class A and Class B common stock, all voting as a group.

With a quorum present, adoption of our Annual Meeting proposals will require the following affirmative votes:


•	For the election of three nominees in Class I of our board, each nominee shall be elected by a majority of votes cast (among votes properly cast in person or by proxy). Abstentions will have the effect of a vote against a nominee. Broker nonvotes will not have any effect on the election of directors.


•	For each of the ratification of appointment of Grant Thornton and the adoption of the minutes of the 2016 annual meeting, “FOR” votes (among votes properly cast in person or by proxy) constituting in each case a majority of votes cast. Abstentions will have the effect of a vote against this proposal. Broker nonvotes will not have any effect on this proposal.


•	For the advisory vote on executive compensation, "FOR" votes (among votes properly cast in person or by proxy) and in each case constituting a majority of votes cast. Abstentions will have the effect of a vote against this proposal. Broker nonvotes will not have any effect on this proposal.

•

For the advisory vote on frequency of advisory votes at Company shareholder meetings on compensation of Company named executive officers as identified in the corresponding Company proxy statement, the one year, two year or three year period option receiving the largest number of votes regardless of whether that number is in excess of a simple majority of a quorum. Abstentions and broker nonvotes will not have any effect on this vote.

Will cumulative voting be allowed on election of directors at the Annual Meeting?

Our Articles expressly provide for non-cumulative voting in the election of directors. Therefore, cumulative voting will not be allowed at our Annual Meeting.

How many outstanding shares of the Company are held by the Company’s directors and executive officers?

As of the Record Date, the number and percentage of outstanding shares entitled to vote held by our directors and executive officers and their affiliates were 4,328,767 shares of our Class A common stock, constituting approximately 13.1% of our outstanding stock in that class, and 1,177,613 shares of our Class B common stock, constituting approximately 38.6% of the outstanding stock in that class.

Why did I receive the Internet Notice in the mail regarding Internet availability of proxy materials this year instead of a paper copy of the proxy materials?

Under rules adopted by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), we furnish our proxy materials to our shareholders via the Internet, rather than mailing printed copies of those materials to each shareholder. For purposes of the Annual Meeting, on or about May 16, 2017 we mailed the Internet Notice to our shareholders of record. Since you received an Internet Notice by mail, you are not to receive a printed copy of these materials unless you request one.

The Internet Notice includes instructions on accessing and reviewing our proxy materials and our Annual Report on the Internet. The Internet Notice also provides instructions on submitting a proxy on the Internet.

At the time we began mailing of the Internet Notice, we also first made available on the Internet at www.proxyvote.com our Letter to Shareholders, Notice of Annual Meeting, Proxy Statement and Annual Report.

How do I request paper or email copies of the proxy materials?

You may receive a paper or email copy of our proxy materials and Annual Report by requesting them by any of the following methods and following the instructions given:


•	Online — Go to www.proxyvote.com.


•	Email — Send message to sendmaterial@proxyvote.com.


•	Telephone — Call 1.800.579.1639.

Any request to receive proxy materials by mail or email will remain in effect until you revoke it.

How may I vote my shares?

The answer to this question depends upon your relationship to the shares to be voted.

Registered shares. If you hold shares in your own name, you may vote by proxy in any of three ways:


•	Online— Go to www.proxyvote.com and follow the instructions. You need to enter certain information that is printed on your Internet Notice or Proxy Card. You can also use this website to elect to be notified in the future by email that future proxy statements and annual reports are available online instead of receiving paper copies of those materials by mail.


•	By Telephone— Call toll-free 1.800.690.6903 within the United States and follow the instructions. You need to enter certain information that is printed on your Internet Notice or Proxy Card in order to vote by telephone.


•	By Mail— Complete, sign and date your Proxy Card and return it in the envelope provided.

In the alternative, you may vote in person at our Annual Meeting.

GCI 401(k) Plan shares. If you hold shares in the Company’s GCI 401(k) Plan, the proxy you submit provides instructions as to how the shares are to be voted. Such proxies when received are, pursuant to instructions from us, placed under the control of our plan committee appointed by our board which administers the GCI 401(k) Plan (“Plan Committee”) and are voted by the Plan Committee in accordance with your instructions on how to vote your plan shares. You can vote online, by telephone or by returning the Proxy Card in the envelope provided. You cannot vote your GCI 401(k) Plan shares in person at the Annual Meeting. If you do not submit a Proxy Card, the Plan Committee will vote your plan shares proportionately with those shares for which the Plan Committee will receive valid proxies to vote. To allow sufficient time for the Plan Committee to tabulate the vote of the plan shares, your vote must be received before the close of business on June 19, 2017. These shares are also to be counted for purposes of establishing a quorum.

Street name shares. If you hold shares through a bank, broker or other institution, you should receive material from that firm explaining how to vote.

What is the difference between holding shares as a shareholder of record and as a beneficial owner?

A shareholder may hold shares through a broker, bank or other nominee rather than directly in the shareholder’s own name. As summarized below, there are some differences between shares held of record and those owned beneficially.

Shareholder of Record. If your shares are registered directly in your name with our transfer agent, Computershare Shareowner Services ("Computershare"), you are considered the shareholder of record with respect to those shares, and the Internet Notice and these proxy materials are being sent directly to you. As the shareholder of record, you have the right to grant your voting proxy directly to us, to vote electronically or to vote in person at our Annual Meeting. If we have received a request from you for printed proxy materials, we have enclosed a Proxy Card for you to use.

Beneficial Owner. If your shares are held in a stock brokerage account or by a bank or other nominee, you are considered the beneficial owner of the shares held in “street name,” and the Internet Notice and these proxy materials are being forwarded to you by your broker, bank or nominee who is considered the shareholder of record with respect to those shares. As a beneficial owner, you have the right to direct your broker, bank or nominee on how to vote and are also invited to attend our Annual Meeting. However, since you are not the shareholder of record, you may not vote these shares in person at our Annual Meeting, unless you request, complete and deliver a

legal proxy from your broker, bank or nominee. If you requested printed proxy materials, your broker, bank or nominee has enclosed a Voting Instruction Card for you to use in directing that person as to how to vote your shares.

May I vote my shares by filling out and returning the Internet Notice?

No. The Internet Notice identifies the items to be voted on at our Annual Meeting. However, you cannot vote by marking the Internet Notice and returning it. The Internet Notice provides instructions on how to vote by Internet, by requesting and returning a paper Proxy Card, by telephone, or by returning a ballot or otherwise voting in person at our Annual Meeting.

How will instructions which I provide in my Proxy Card be addressed in voting at the Annual Meeting?

The shares represented by each executed, valid Proxy Card submitted to us will be voted at our Annual Meeting in accordance with the instructions in that Proxy Card and subject to conditions as described in the Proxy Card. The Proxy Card will be voted for our board’s nominees for directors as a classified board and as otherwise specified in the Proxy Card, unless a contrary choice is specified. The Proxy Card also gives discretionary authority to the holder on other matters as described in the Proxy Card and Proxy Statement.

What if I do not give specific voting instructions in filling out my Proxy Card?

The answer to this question depends upon your relationship to the shares to be voted.

Shareholder of Record. If you are a shareholder of record and you indicate, when voting by the Internet or by telephone, that you wish to vote as recommended by our board, or return a signed Proxy Card but do not indicate how you wish to vote, then your shares are to be voted in accordance with the recommendations of our board on all matters presented in this Proxy Statement and as the proxy holders may determine in their discretion regarding any other matters properly presented for a vote at the Annual Meeting. If you indicate a choice with respect to any matter to be acted upon on your Proxy Card, the shares are to be voted in accordance with your instructions, subject to the terms of the card.

Beneficial Owner. If you are a beneficial owner of shares held in street name and do not provide the person that holds your shares with voting instructions, that person must determine if it has the discretionary authority to vote on the particular matter. The Exchange Act requires stock exchanges to adopt rules which prohibit a broker that is not the beneficial owner of a security registered under the act from voting without instructions from the beneficial owner in connection with a shareholder vote on specific matters. These specific matters consist of election of an individual to a board of directors of an issuer, executive compensation or any other significant matter as determined by the SEC by rule. If you do not provide voting instructions to your broker on a proposal, e.g., using a Voting Instruction Card, where the broker does not have discretionary authority to vote on that particular proposal, your shares are considered “broker nonvotes” with regard to that proposal, which will have the effect of excluding your vote from the tallies (but your shares will be deemed present at the meeting for purposes of establishing a quorum).

What if I abstain from a vote?

Abstentions are included in the determination of shares present for purposes of establishing a quorum. Because an abstention represents shares entitled to vote on any matter presented for shareholder approval, the effect of the abstention is the same as a vote against the proposal at our Annual Meeting (except for the vote on the frequency of our advisory votes on executive compensation, for which abstentions will have no effect).

Are all votes cast at the Annual Meeting to be counted?

All votes cast by our shareholders directly or by proxy, completed and executed in accordance with the instructions on the Proxy Card or Voting Instruction Card (honored by the broker or other nominee and timely presented to the Company), will be counted at our Annual Meeting. A Proxy Card clearly marked as abstaining on a proposal to be addressed at our Annual Meeting will be honored and will abstain from the vote (although present and entitled to vote and as described above will have the effect of a vote against the proposal). Similarly, a broker holding shares of record for a beneficial owner generally is not entitled to vote on matters presented at our Annual Meeting (as previously described) unless the owner gives that broker specific voting instructions.

A Proxy Card having no clear indication of a vote on a proposal to be addressed at our Annual Meeting is to be voted “FOR” the corresponding proposal, as the case may be. A Proxy Card having conflicting indications or more than one selection on a proposal to be addressed at our Annual Meeting is not to be voted on that matter but is to be used for purposes of establishing a quorum.

How are votes counted?

Votes are to be tabulated through a vendor selected by the Company to establish the platform for Internet voting. Proxy Cards and other evidences of voting are to be retained by the Company for the Annual Meeting, for compliance with instructions adopted by our board for voting in the context of that meeting. Separate counts of “FOR,” “AGAINST” and “ABSTAIN” on votes on any proposals are to be made along with separate counts of broker nonvotes. Abstentions will be counted for the purpose of determining whether a quorum is present, but will not be counted towards an affirmative vote total for and will have the effect of a vote against a proposal at our Annual Meeting. Broker nonvotes will be counted for the purpose of determining whether a quorum is present, but will otherwise be excluded from the tallies.

May I change my vote after I have voted?

Even if you voted by telephone or on the Internet, or if you requested paper proxy materials and signed the Proxy Card in the form accompanying this Proxy Statement, you retain the power to revoke your proxy or change your vote. A proxy executed using the Proxy Card enclosed may be revoked by the shareholder signing the Proxy Card at any time before authority granted under the Proxy Card is exercised by giving written notice to the Secretary of our board at the principal executive offices of the Company. This notice may also be delivered to the Secretary at our Annual Meeting prior to a vote using the Proxy Card.

Thereafter, a shareholder revoking the proxy may vote in person or by other proxy as provided by our Bylaws. A shareholder wishing to revoke the Proxy Card may do so by executing another valid proxy bearing a later date. However, if you wish to vote at our Annual Meeting and your broker, bank or nominee is, the shareholder of record, you must request, complete and deliver a legal proxy from that person.

What does it mean if I receive more than one Internet Notice, Proxy Card or Voting Instruction Card?

It generally means your shares are registered differently or are in more than one account. Please provide voting instructions for all Internet Notices, Proxy Cards and Voting Instruction Cards you receive.

Who may attend the Annual Meeting?

All shareholders as of the Record Date, or their duly appointed proxies, may attend the Annual Meeting. Each shareholder may also bring one guest to our Annual Meeting if there is space available.

Are there any prerequisites for admission to the Annual Meeting?

As one of our shareholders as of the Record Date, you may be asked in entering the Annual Meeting to present proof that you are such a holder. Otherwise, interested parties are invited to join us at the meeting, although our shareholders and employees are to be admitted first should there not be space available to accommodate you at the meeting site.

Who pays for the proxy solicitations?

The expenses of the proxy solicitation made by our board for our Annual Meeting, including the cost of preparing and assembling for use on our website of, and use in mailing at a shareholder’s request paper copies of, the Notice of Annual Meeting, Proxy Card, Proxy Statement, and return envelopes, the handling and tabulation of proxies received, and charges of brokerage houses and other institutions, nominees or fiduciaries, if any, for forwarding such documents to beneficial owners, are to be paid by us.

How will the Company solicit votes for the Annual Meeting?

We plan to solicit proxies for our Annual Meeting via the Internet, mail as needed, in person or by telephone, electronic mail or other electronic transmission. These solicitations may be carried out by our officers, directors and employees. None of these individuals are to receive additional compensation in that effort.

Is a list of Company shareholders available to me?

A list of names of Company shareholders of record as of the Record Date entitled to vote at our Annual Meeting will be available to shareholders entitled to vote at the meeting for 30 days prior to the meeting for any purpose relevant to the meeting. This list can be viewed between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. at our principal executive offices at 2550 Denali Street, Suite 1000, Anchorage, Alaska.

How do I find out the results of votes taken at the Annual Meeting?

Voting results will be announced at our Annual Meeting. Also, the results will be included in our current report on Form 8-K filed with the SEC subsequent to the Annual Meeting. Furthermore, we will post the results on our website at www.gci.com. After the Form 8-K is filed, you may obtain a copy by visiting our website.

What if I have questions about lost stock certificates or I need to change my mailing address?

A shareholder may contact our transfer agent, Computershare, by calling 1.877.277.9943, or by writing to Computershare at P.O. Box 30170, College Station, Texas 77842-3170, or by visiting the transfer agent’s website at www.computershare.com/investor to get more information about these matters.

Who is the Company’s independent registered public accounting firm?

Our independent registered public accounting firm, i.e., our External Accountant, is appointed by our Audit Committee. Our Audit Committee appointed Grant Thornton as our External Accountant for the year ended December 31, 2017. A representative of Grant Thornton is expected to be present at our Annual Meeting.

Where can I find more information about the Company?

We file annual reports using Form 10-K, quarterly reports using Form 10-Q, current reports from time to time using Form 8-K and make other public filings with the SEC. The public may read and copy any materials we file with the SEC on these forms at the SEC’s Internet address www.sec.gov.

We make available, at no charge through our website at www.gci.com our annual reports using Form 10-K, quarterly reports using Form 10-Q, current reports using Form 8-K and amendments to them, as well as copies of our proxy statements filed with the SEC, as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file that material with the SEC. In addition, we have posted on our website our Audit Committee Charter, Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee Charter, Compensation Committee Charter, and Code of Business Conduct and Ethics (“Ethics Code”). Information on our website does not form a part of this Proxy Statement.

When are shareholder proposals and recommendations for the 2018 annual shareholder meeting due?

The time period during which we must receive proposals and recommendations, if any, from our shareholders to make a nomination for director or present other matters for action from the floor of the 2018 annual meeting or for placement in our 2018 proxy statement are controlled by applicable SEC rules and our Bylaws and as further described in this Proxy Statement. See, “Future Shareholder Proposals and Recommendations.”

MATTERS TO BE VOTED UPON

The agenda for our Annual Meeting centers on two action items presented to our shareholders, i.e., the election of a portion of our board and ratification of the appointment of our External Accountant for 2017. In addition, we have on our agenda two shareholder advisory votes relating to executive compensation of our Named Executive Officers and frequency of shareholder advisory votes on our named executive officers in general. Other matters may be taken up as described below.

Director Elections

Overview. As of the Record Date, our board was composed of ten directors classified into the following three classes with the number of members of each class as indicated: Class I (three members), Class II (four members), and Class III (three members).

At our Annual Meeting three individuals will be elected in Class I of our board, each for a three-year term. The individuals so elected will serve subject to the provisions of our Bylaws and until the election and qualification of their respective successors.

Our board, upon recommendation of its Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee, has identified three nominees for election as directors at the Annual Meeting. This identification has been done in accordance with the committee’s charter as further described elsewhere in this Proxy Statement. See “Governance of Company: Board and Its Committees — Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee.” We believe these nominees are willing to serve.

Our board intends that the proxy holders named in the accompanying Proxy Card or their substitutes are to vote for the election of these nominees unless specifically instructed to the contrary. However, in the event one or more of these nominees at the time of the election shall be unable or unwilling, or shall otherwise be unavailable for election and as a consequence other nominees shall be designated, those proxy holders or their substitutes will have discretion and authority to vote or refrain from voting in accordance with their judgment with respect to those other nominees.

Recommendation of Board. Our board recommends to our shareholders a vote “FOR” the slate of three nominees, each as a Class I director for election at our Annual Meeting, i.e., a vote for proposal number 1 of the Proxy Card. This slate is as follows:


•	Bridget L. Baker


•	Jerry A. Edgerton


•	Mark W. Kroloff

Background and other information on the nominees are provided elsewhere in this Proxy Statement. See, “Governance of Company: Directors and Executive Officers.”

Ratification of Appointment of External Accountant

Overview. Our Audit Committee appointed Grant Thornton as our External Accountant for the year ended December 31, 2017. Our board ratified that action and directed management to submit the appointment for ratification by our shareholders at the Annual Meeting.

A representative of Grant Thornton is expected to be present at the Annual Meeting. That representative will have the opportunity to make a statement, if so desired, and will be available to respond to appropriate questions.

Neither our Articles nor our other governing documents require shareholder ratification or otherwise approval of the appointment of Grant Thornton as our External Accountant for 2017. However, the submission of appointment of Grant Thornton to our shareholders for ratification is, we believe, a matter of good corporate practice. If ratification is not obtained, our Audit Committee intends to continue the engagement of Grant Thornton at least through the end of 2017. However, even if the appointment is ratified, our Audit Committee, in its sole discretion, may direct the appointment of a different independent registered public accounting firm at any time should the committee determine that such a change would be in the best interests of the Company and its shareholders.

Recommendation of Board. Our board recommends to our shareholders a vote “FOR” ratification of the appointment of Grant Thornton as our External Accountant for the year ended December 31, 2017, i.e., a vote for proposal number 2 of the Proxy Card. As a further step in the ratification process, the following resolution will be offered at our Annual Meeting for consideration by our shareholders:

“RESOLVED, that the shareholders of General Communication, Inc. (“Company”) hereby ratify the appointment of Grant Thornton LLP as the Company’s independent registered public accounting firm for the year ended December 31, 2017.”

Non-Binding Advisory Vote Pertaining to Executive Compensation

Overview. Section 14A of the Exchange Act requires that we provide our shareholders with the opportunity to vote to approve or not approve, on an advisory basis, the compensation of our Named Executive Officers. This vote is not intended to address any specific item of compensation. That is, the vote addresses the overall compensation of our Named Executive Officers and our compensation philosophy, policies, and practices as disclosed elsewhere within this Proxy Statement. See "Compensation Discussion and Analysis" and "Executive Compensation." The voting procedure on this proposal is further discussed elsewhere in this Proxy Statement. See "Compensation Discussion and Analysis: Shareholder Advisory Votes on Executive Compensation."

Recommendation of Board. For the reasons discussed in the Compensation Discussion and Analysis section of this Proxy Statement, our board recommends to our shareholders a vote "FOR" approval of the executive compensation for the Named Executive Officers as set forth in the Executive Compensation section of this Proxy Statement. As a further step in this approval process, the following resolution will be offered at our Annual Meeting for consideration of our shareholders:

"RESOLVED, that the shareholders of General Communication, Inc. ("Company") hereby approve, as an advisory vote only, the compensation of the Company's Named Executive Officers as disclosed (pursuant to item 402 of Regulation S-K adopted under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934) in the Company's proxy statement (including the Compensation Discussion and Analysis, compensation tables and narrative discussion in it) for the 2017 annual shareholder meeting."

While we intend to consider carefully the voting results on this proposal, the final vote is advisory in nature and not binding on us, our board or our Compensation Committee. Our board and Compensation Committee value the opinions of our shareholders and may consider the outcome of their vote in making future compensation decisions pertaining to our named executive officers including the Named Executive Officers for 2016.

Non-Binding Advisory Vote Pertaining to Frequency of Shareholder Votes on Executive Compensation

Overview. Section 14A of the Exchange Act requires that we provide our shareholders with the opportunity to vote, on an advisory basis, on the frequency with which we include in our proxy statements an advisory vote, similar to the previously described shareholder advisory vote, to approve or not approve the compensation for our named executive officers as identified in our corresponding proxy statements. By voting on this proposal, a shareholder may indicate whether the shareholder prefers that we seek such an advisory vote every one, two or three years, or in the alternative the shareholder may abstain from voting. Under Section 14A of the Exchange Act, we are required to hold at least once every six years an advisory shareholder vote to determine the frequency of such shareholder advisory votes on executive compensation. The voting procedure on this proposal is further discussed elsewhere in this Proxy Statement. See "Compensation Discussion and Analysis: Shareholder Advisory Votes on Executive Compensation."

Recommendation of Board. After careful consideration of this proposal, our board has determined that an advisory vote on executive compensation that occurs every three years is the most appropriate alternative for the Company. Therefore, our board recommends a vote for a triennial advisory vote, i.e., once every three years. In reaching this recommendation, our board considered the compensation structure and duration of existing incentive plans of our executive officers and our ownership structure. Our board also determined that a triennial advisory vote would permit the incentive plan elements of our Compensation Program to be judged over a period of time. Our board believes that our Compensation Program is structured to drive creation of shareholder value over the long-term and do not focus on short-term gains. Our board also believes that effectiveness of our Compensation Program cannot be adequately evaluated on an annual basis, especially in the dynamic telecommunications industry in which we participate.

You may cast your vote on your preferred voting frequency by selecting the option of holding an advisory vote on executive compensation "EVERY ONE YEAR," or "EVERY TWO YEARS," or "EVERY THREE YEARS" or you may "ABSTAIN." Your vote is not intended to approve or disapprove the recommendation of our board. Our board will consider the shareholders to have expressed a preference for the option receiving the largest number of votes, regardless of whether that number is in excess of a simple majority of a quorum.

Other Business

Other matters, beyond the election of directors and approval of the External Accountant for 2017, and the two shareholder advisory votes on executive officer compensation, which may be addressed at our Annual Meeting consist of approval (but not the ratification) of the minutes of our past annual shareholder meeting held on June 27, 2016, matters incident to the conduct of our Annual Meeting, and other business as may properly come before our shareholders at our Annual Meeting. A vote for the adoption of those minutes will be an affirmation that the minutes, as written, properly reflect the proceedings of that meeting and the actions taken at that meeting. However, such a vote will not be an action constituting approval or disapproval of the matters referred to in those minutes.

While we were, as of the Record Date, unaware of other matters of business to come before our Annual Meeting, they could include election of a person to our board for which a bona fide nominee is named in this Proxy Statement and where that nominee is unable to serve or for good cause refuses to serve, and matters proposed by our shareholders for which we have not received timely notice. Our board intends to use discretionary voting authority given it under our Bylaws and in compliance with Rule 14a-4(c) adopted under the Exchange Act should any of these matters come before our Annual Meeting.

Other than these matters, our board does not intend to bring business before our Annual Meeting and is not aware of any other matter which anyone else proposes to present for action at our Annual Meeting. However, in the event any other matters shall properly come before our Annual Meeting, the persons named in the accompanying Proxy Card or their duly constituted substitutes acting at the meeting will be deemed authorized to vote or otherwise act upon those matters in accordance with their judgment.

GOVERNANCE OF COMPANY

Directors and Executive Officers

As of the Record Date, our board consisted of ten director positions, divided into three classes of directors serving staggered three-year terms.

A director on our board is elected at an annual meeting of shareholders and serves until the earlier of his or her resignation or removal, or his or her successor is elected and qualified. Our executive officers generally are appointed at our board's meeting immediately preceding each annual meeting of shareholders and serve at the discretion of the board.

The following table sets forth certain information about our directors and executive officers as of the Record Date:



Name	Age	Position
Stephen M. Brett¹	76	Chairman, Director
Ronald A. Duncan¹	64	President, Chief Executive Officer and Director
Peter J. Pounds	44	Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer, and Secretary
G. Wilson Hughes	71	Executive Vice President
William C. Behnke	59	Senior Vice President
Martin E. Cary	52	Senior Vice President and General Manager, GCI Business
Gregory F. Chapados	59	Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer
Paul E. Landes	59	Senior Vice President and General Manager, Consumer Services
Tina M. Pidgeon	48	Senior Vice President, Chief Compliance Officer, General Counsel and Government Affairs
Bridget L. Baker¹	57	Director
Jerry A. Edgerton¹	75	Director
Scott M. Fisher¹	51	Director
William P. Glasgow¹	58	Director
Mark W. Kroloff¹	60	Director
Stephen R. Mooney¹	57	Director
James M. Schneider¹	64	Director
Eric L. Zinterhofer¹	45	Director
¹The present classification of our board is as follows: (1) Class I – Ms. Baker and Messrs. Edgerton and Kroloff, whose present terms expire at the time of our Annual Meeting; (2) Class II – Messrs. Brett, Duncan, Mooney, and Zinterhofer whose present terms expire at the time of our 2018 annual meeting; and (3) Class III – Messrs. Fisher, Glasgow, and Schneider, whose present terms expire at the time of our 2019 annual meeting.

The board, when considering whether directors have the experience, qualifications, attributes or skills, taken as a whole, to enable the board to satisfy its oversight responsibilities effectively in light of the Company's business and structure, focused primarily on each person's background and experience. We believe that the Company's directors have backgrounds that, when combined, provide us with a board equipped to direct us through an ever challenging course in the segments of the telecommunication business in which we are involved. Attributes of members of our board include experience in entrepreneurial, video service, telecommunication, technological and financial aspects of companies similar to, as well as much larger than, us.

In particular, our board considered important the following regarding its members. With regard to Mr. Brett, our board considered his telecommunications and cable experience, as well as his over 40 year experience as a corporate lawyer. With regard to Ms. Baker, our board considered her experience with broadcast and cable networks. With regards to Messrs. Fisher and Glasgow, our board considered the broad backgrounds of these individuals in finance and their operational experience with cable companies. With regards to Messrs. Edgerton and Mooney, our board considered the extensive experience and expertise of these individuals in business development in the telecommunications industry and their financial knowledge. Our board also considered the broad perspective brought by Mr. Kroloff's experience in operating diverse businesses throughout Alaska as well as his experience as a lawyer. With regard to Mr. Schneider, our board considered his significant financial and accounting experience including his time spent as Chief Financial Officer of a large public company. With regard to Mr. Zinterhofer, our board considered his experience as an investor in cable, fiber, wireless, and satellite companies.

Our board also considered the many years of experience with the Company represented by Mr. Duncan, our President and Chief Executive Officer. He has been with the Company since he co-founded it.

Many of our directors, including Messrs. Edgerton, Glasgow, Kroloff, Mooney and Schneider, were initially proposed for nomination by (or, in the case of Mr. Kroloff, through a request from Mr. Duncan to) holders of significant amounts of Company shares. Our board has retained each of these directors, even after the shareholders have

exited the Company or no longer have retained a right to nominate a director, due to the valued expertise our board feels they provide as members.

Stephen M. Brett. Mr. Brett has served as Chairman of our board since June 2005 and as a director on our board since January 2001. He has been of counsel to Sherman & Howard, L.L.C., a law firm, since January 2001. He was Senior Executive Vice President for AT&T Broadband from March 1999 to April 2000. In addition, Mr. Brett serves as director for Liberty Expedia Holdings, Inc. His present term as a director on our board expires at the time of our 2018 annual meeting.

Ronald A. Duncan. Mr. Duncan is a co-founder of the Company and has served as a director on our board since 1979. Mr. Duncan has served as our President and Chief Executive Officer since January 1989. His present term as director on the board expires at the time of our 2018 annual meeting.

Peter J. Pounds. Mr. Pounds became our Chief Financial Officer and one of our Senior Vice Presidents effective January 1, 2014. Prior to that he served as Vice President, Finance since 2009.

G. Wilson Hughes. Mr. Hughes has served as our Executive Vice President since January 1, 2017. Prior to that he served as our Chief Executive Officer of The Alaska Wireless Network, LLC from July 22, 2013 to January 1, 2017. Prior to that he served as our Executive Vice President – Wireless from June 4, 2012 to July 22, 2013. Prior to that, he served as our Executive Vice President and General Manager from June 1991 to June 4, 2012.

William C. Behnke. Mr. Behnke has served as one of our Senior Vice Presidents since January 2001.

Martin E. Cary. Mr. Cary has served as one of our Senior Vice Presidents and as General Manager, GCI Busines since April 2016. Prior to that, he served as our Vice President – General Manager, Managed Broadband Services from September 2004 to April 2016.

Gregory F. Chapados. Mr. Chapados has served as our Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer since June 2012. Prior to that, he served as one of our Senior Vice Presidents from June 2006 to June 2012.

Paul E. Landes. Mr. Landes has served as one of our Senior Vice Presidents and as General Manager, Consumer Services since December 2010. Prior to that, he served as our Vice President and General Manager, Consumer Services from September 2005 to December 2010.

Tina M. Pidgeon. Ms. Pidgeon has served as our Senior Vice President, Chief Compliance Officer, General Counsel and Government Affairs, since September 2010. Prior to that, she served as our Vice President, Federal Regulatory Affairs from January 2003 to September 2010.

Bridget L. Baker. Ms. Baker has served as a director on our board since July 2013. Since January 2013, she has been a Principal of Baker Media, Inc., an entertainment and media consulting firm that she founded. From 2006 to 2012, Ms. Baker was NBCUNIVERSAL's president of content distribution where she was responsible for the company's multi-billion dollar subscription revenue business across the cable, satellite, and telecommunications industry. Her present term as a director on our board expires at the time of our Annual Meeting.

Jerry A. Edgerton. Mr. Edgerton has served as a director on our board since June 2004. Since January 2013, he has been Chief Executive Officer of Cumulus Solutions, Inc., a provider of visual collaboration tools. From September 2011 to December 2012, he was President of Global Services for iNETWORKS Group, Inc., a comprehensive telecommunications solutions provider. From July 2009 to August 2011, he was President of Government Markets for Core 180, a network integrator for large governmental and commercial customers. From November 2007 to May 2009, he was Chief Executive Officer for Command Information, Inc., a next generation Internet service company. From April 2007 to October 2007, Mr. Edgerton was an advisor on matters affecting the telecommunications industry as well as the U.S. government. Prior to that and from January 2006 to April 2007, he was Group President of Verizon Federal. Prior to that and from November 1996, he was Senior Vice President – Government Markets for MCI Communications Corporation, an affiliate of MCI, which was later acquired by Verizon Communications, Inc. His present term as a director on our board expires at the time of our Annual Meeting.

Scott M. Fisher. Mr. Fisher has served on our board since December 2005. From 1998 to the present, he has been a partner of Fisher Capital Partners, Ltd., a private equity and real estate investment company located in Denver, Colorado. During that time, Fisher Capital owned and operated Peak Cablevision, a multiple system cable

television operator with approximately 120,000 subscribers. At Peak Cablevision, Mr. Fisher was responsible for television programming and corporate development. Mr. Fisher serves on the advisory boards of several private companies. His present term as director on our board expires at the time of our 2019 annual meeting.

William P. Glasgow. Mr. Glasgow has served as a director on our board since 1996. From 2000 to the present Mr. Glasgow has been acting as President for the operating and investing entities of Prime IX Investment's group of companies of which he has been involved for thirty years. His present term as a director on our board expires at the time of our 2019 annual meeting.

Mark W. Kroloff. Mr. Kroloff has served as a director on our board since February 2009. Since January 2010, he has been a principal at First Alaskan Capital Partners, LLC, an investment firm. From May 2005 to December 2009, he was Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Arctic Slope Regional Corporation ("ASRC"), an Alaska Native regional corporation formed pursuant to the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act. From 2001 to April 2005, Mr. Kroloff was Chief Operating Officer of Cook Inlet Region, Inc., also an Alaska Native regional corporation. He also serves on the board of managers for Trilogy International Partners, LLC. Mr. Kroloff's present term as a director on our board expires at the time of our Annual Meeting.

Stephen R. Mooney. Mr. Mooney has served as a director on our board since January 1999. He has been a Partner at Chessiecap Securities, Inc., an investment bank specializing in technology and telecommunications services based in Maryland since 2012. From April 2010 to 2012, Mr. Mooney was a Managing Director with the McClean Group, LLC, a national financial advisory services firm. From February 2008 to November 2009, Mr. Mooney was Vice President, Business Development for Affiliated Computer Services, Inc., a global information technology and business process outsourcing company. From January 2006 to September 2007, he was Executive Director, Business Development of VerizonBusiness, a unit of Verizon. Prior to that, he was Vice President, Corporate Development and Treasury Services at MCI beginning in 2002. His present term as a director on our board expires at the time of our 2018 annual meeting.

James M. Schneider. Mr. Schneider has served as a director on our board since July 1994. He has been Chairman of Frontier Bancshares, Inc. since February 2007. Prior to that, Mr. Schneider had been Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer for Dell, Inc. from March 2000 to February 2007. Prior to that, he was Senior Vice President – Finance for Dell Computer Corporation from September 1998 to March 2000. From 2012 to the present Mr. Schneider has been an Operating Partner for Lead Edge Capital. His present term as a director on our board expires at the time of our 2019 annual meeting.

Eric L. Zinterhofer. Mr. Zinterhofer has served as a director on our board since March 4, 2015. Mr. Zinterhofer is a Founding Partner of Searchlight Capital Partners. Prior to co-founding Searchlight, Mr. Zinterhofer was co-head of the media and telecommunications investment platform at Apollo Management, L.P. Mr. Zinterhofer has been an active cable investor over the last 15 years in companies such as Charter Communications, Liberty Cablevision Puerto Rico, Unity Media, Cablecom and Primacom. Mr. Zinterhofer is also an active investor in the fiber, wireless and satellite sectors, having invested in Integra Telecom, IPCS, Spectrasite and Dish TV India. In addition, Mr. Zinterhofer serves as a director for Charter Communications (Chairman), Hemisphere Media Group, and DISH TV India. His present term as a director on our board expires at the time of our 2018 annual meeting.

Board and Its Committees; Meetings

The standing committees of our board are as follows:

•Audit Committee.

•Compensation Committee.

•Investment Committee (Disbanded in December 2016).

•Executive Committee.

•Finance Committee.

•Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee.

The membership and chairs of these committees are as follows:

Board Committee Members

Name

Audit

Compensation

Investment

Executive

Finance(1)

Nominating &

Corporate

Governance

Stephen M. Brett

Chair

Bridget L. Baker

Ronald A. Duncan

Jerry A. Edgerton

Chair

Scott M. Fisher

William P. Glasgow

Chair

Mark W. Kroloff

Stephen R. Mooney

Chair

James M. Schneider

Eric L. Zinterhofer

(1) Mr. Pounds is also a member of this committee.

Audit Committee. Our Audit Committee is governed by, and carries out its responsibilities under, the Audit Committee Charter, as adopted and amended from time to time by our board (“Audit Committee Charter”). The charter sets forth the purpose of the Audit Committee and its membership prerequisites and operating principles. It also requires our Audit Committee to select our independent, registered, public accounting firm to provide us accounting and audit services, i.e., our External Accountant, and sets forth other primary responsibilities. A copy of our Audit Committee Charter is available to our shareholders on our Internet website: www.gci.com.

The Nasdaq corporate governance listing standards require that at least one member of our Audit Committee must have past employment experience in finance or accounting, requisite professional certification in accounting, or comparable experience or background which results in the individual’s “financial sophistication.” This financial sophistication may derive from the person being or having been a chief executive officer, chief financial officer or other senior officer with financial oversight responsibilities.

Our board believes that Messrs. Fisher, Glasgow and Mooney, are audit committee financial experts (“Audit Committee Financial Experts”) and also meet the Nasdaq requirements for financial sophistication. Our board further believes that Messrs. Fisher, Glasgow and Mooney are each an independent director as the term is defined in the Nasdaq Stock Market corporate listing standards (to which the Company is subject), i.e., an individual other than one of our executive officers or employees or any other individual having a relationship which in the opinion of our board would interfere in carrying out the responsibilities of a director (“Independent Director”).

Under the SEC’s rules, an Audit Committee Financial Expert is defined as a person who has all of the following attributes:


•	Understanding of accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”) and financial statements.


•	Ability to assess the general application of GAAP in connection with accounting for estimates, accruals and reserves.


•	Experience in preparing, auditing, analyzing or evaluating financial statements that present a breadth and level of complexity of accounting issues that are generally comparable to the breadth and complexity of issues that can reasonably be expected to be raised by our financial statements, or experience actively supervising one or more persons engaged in such activities.


•	Understanding of internal control over financial reporting.


•	Understanding of audit committee functions.

The Audit Committee Charter specifies how one may determine whether a person has acquired the attributes of an Audit Committee Financial Expert. They are one or more of the following:


•	Education and experience as a principal financial officer, principal accounting officer, controller, public accountant or auditor or experience in one or more positions that involved the performance of similar functions.


•	Experience actively supervising a principal financial officer, principal accounting officer, controller, public accountant, auditor or person performing similar functions.


•	Experience overseeing or assessing the performance of companies or public accountants with respect to the preparation, auditing or evaluation of financial statements.


•	Other relevant experience.

Our Audit Committee acts on behalf of our board and generally carries out specific duties including the following, all of which are described in detail in our Audit Committee Charter:


•	Principal Accountant Selection, Qualification — Is directly responsible for appointment, compensation, retention, oversight, qualifications and independence of our External Accountant.


•	Financial Statements — Assists in our board’s oversight of integrity of the Company financial statements.


•	Financial Reports, Internal Control — Is directly responsible for oversight of the audit by our External Accountant of our financial reports and reports on internal control.


•	Annual Reports — Prepares reports required to be included in our annual proxy statement. See, “Audit Committee Report.”


•	Complaints — Receives and responds to certain complaints relating to internal accounting controls, and auditing matters, confidential, anonymous submissions by our employees regarding questionable accounting or auditing matters, and certain alleged illegal acts or behavior-related conduct in violation of our Ethics Code. See, “Code of Business Conduct and Ethics.”


•	Principal Accountant Disagreements — Resolves disagreements, if any, between our External Accountant and us regarding financial reporting.


•	Non-Audit Services — Reviews and pre-approves any non-audit services (audit-related, tax and other non-audit related services) offered to us by our External Accountant (“Non-Audit Services”).


•	Attorney Reports — Addresses certain attorney reports, if any, relating to violation of securities law or fiduciary duty by one of our officers, directors, employees or agents.


•	Related Party Transactions — Reviews certain related party transactions as described elsewhere in this Proxy Statement. See, “Certain Transactions.”


•	Other — Carries out other assignments as designated by our board.

Our Audit Committee met four times during 2016. See, “Audit Committee Report.”

Compensation Committee. Consideration and determination of compensation of our executive officers and directors during 2016 were subject to processes and procedures carried out through our Compensation Committee (“Compensation Program”), the aspects of which are described elsewhere in this Proxy Statement. See, “Compensation Discussion and Analysis: Principles of the Compensation Program.” Our Compensation Committee is composed of Messrs. Brett, Edgerton (Chair), Mooney, Schneider, and Ms. Baker. All of the members of the committee are considered by our board to be Independent Directors.

Our Charter of the Compensation Committee sets forth the scope of authority of our Compensation Committee and requires the committee to carry out the following:


•	Review, on an annual basis, plans and targets for executive officer and board member compensation.


◦	Review is specifically to address expected performance and compensation of, and the criteria on which compensation is based for, the Chief Executive Officer and such other of our executive officers as our board may designate for this purpose.


•	Monitor the effect of ongoing events on, and the effectiveness of, existing compensation policies, goals, and plans.


◦	Events specifically include but are not limited to the status of the premise that all pay systems correlate with our compensation goals and policies.


◦	Report from time to time, its findings to our board.


•	Administer our Amended and Restated 1986 Stock Option Plan (“Stock Option Plan”) and approve grants of options and awards pursuant to the plan.


•	Monitor compensation-related publicity and public and private sector developments on executive compensation.


•	Familiarize itself with, and monitor the tax, accounting, corporate, and securities law ramifications of, our compensation policies, including but not limited to.


◦	Comprehending a senior executive officer’s total compensation package.


◦	Comprehending the package’s total cost to us and its total value to the recipient.


◦	Paying close attention to salary, bonuses, individual insurance and health benefits, perquisites, special benefits to specific executive officers, and other retirement benefits.


•	Establish the overall cap on executive compensation and the measure of performance for executive officers, either by predetermined measurement or by a subjective evaluation.


•	Strive to make our compensation plans simple, fair, and structured so as to maximize shareholder value.

In carrying out its duties, our Compensation Committee may accept for review and inclusion in its annual review with our board, recommendations from our Chief Executive Officer as to expected performance and compensation of, and the criteria on which compensation is based for, executive officers. Although it did not use one in 2016, the Compensation Committee may, at its sole discretion, use a compensation consultant.

Our Compensation Committee met two times during 2016. See, “Governance of Company: Compensation Committee Interlocks and Insider Participation” and “Governance of Company: Compensation Committee Report.”

Investment Committee. Our Investment Committee was established by our board to review opportunities for the Company to diversify its business to minimize risk and enhance shareholder returns. The Investment Committee met seven times during 2016 and was disbanded in December 2016.

Executive Committee. Our Executive Committee was established by our board to manage and operate the affairs of the Company between our board meetings, except to the extent shareholder authorization is required by law, our Articles or our Bylaws. The Executive Committee has the power to perform or authorize any act that could be done or accomplished by majority action of all the directors of our board, except as set forth in our Bylaws. Those exceptions are responsibilities expressly reserved to our board by state law. Our Executive Committee did not meet during 2016.

Finance Committee. Our Finance Committee is responsible for reviewing our finance matters from time to time and providing guidance to our chief financial officer regarding these matters. The Finance Committee did not meet during 2016.

Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee. Overview — Our Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee is governed by, and carries out its responsibilities under, the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee Charter. The charter sets forth the purpose of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee

and its membership prerequisites, operating principles and primary responsibilities. A copy of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee Charter is available to our shareholders on our Internet website: www.gci.com. All members of the committee are considered by our board to be Independent Directors.

The Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee is principally responsible for carrying out the following, all of which are described in detail in the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee Charter:


•	Nominations — Identifies and recommends nominees for our board and its committees.


•	Corporate Governance — Reviews and recommends to our board or independently takes action on various corporate governance issues.


•	Complaints — Receives and responds to certain complaints raised by our employees, and not otherwise addressed by our Audit Committee, regarding alleged illegal acts or behavior-related conduct by our board members in violation of our Ethics Code.


•	Supervision — Supervises our chief financial officer in the context of our Ethics Code.


•	Other — Carries out other assignments as designated by our board.

In addition to setting forth the purpose of the committee, the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee Charter establishes committee membership qualifications, terms, definition of Independent Director (same as that described in the prior discussion of our Audit Committee), and operating principles. In the context of its corporate governance responsibilities, our committee is to develop and recommend to our board, from time to time, a set of corporate governance principles applicable to us, and to review and recommend changes, if any, to our Ethics Code.

Under its charter, the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee reviews on an annual basis our board’s committee structure and recommends changes, if any, to it, establishes criteria and processes for, and leads our board and each of its committees in, its annual performance self-evaluation. The committee also works with the chair of our Compensation Committee on issues of management objectives, evaluation of our chief executive officer, and management development and succession.

Our Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee met one time during 2016.

Process for Identifying and Evaluating Nominee for Director — The Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee Charter requires our Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee to identify and recommend to our board, from time to time, as nominees one or more individuals who satisfy criteria set forth in the charter to stand for election to the board by our shareholders. Under the charter, this process of identifying and recommending nominees and the criteria used in the process apply equally to existing board members considered for re-election and individuals not then on the board considered for board membership.

These criteria apply for candidates identified by (in addition to the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee) individual members of the committee, members of our board, shareholder recommendations accepted by the committee, and, in the committee’s discretion, through consultants as otherwise provided in the committee’s charter. Similarly, the same process and criteria are used under the charter in the event a vacancy occurs on our board. In addition, in this context the charter requires the committee to identify and recommend to the board an individual to fill that position on the board, subject to the individual’s standing for election by our shareholders at the then next shareholder meeting.

The criteria set forth in the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee Charter and which the committee must apply in identifying and evaluating board nominees are as follows:


•	Board size.


•	Minimum qualifications.


•	Skills and characteristics.


•	Company strategic direction.


•	Board compositional needs.

The board size criterion is not further described in the charter. However, our Bylaws specify a board size of not less than three and not more than twelve members. The size of the board may increase or decrease within these limits, depending upon the needs of the Company, e.g., Company strategic direction or board compositional needs. The actual size is fixed by resolution of the board.

The minimum qualifications criterion is set forth in our Bylaws. Those qualifications are that the individual must be of legal age which is defined as at least 21 years of age and at all times otherwise satisfy other qualifications as set forth in the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee Charter. The qualifications set forth in the Bylaws further specify that a director need not be a shareholder or a resident of the State of Alaska. These minimum qualifications are applied by the committee to each board member and nominee to the board.

The skills and characteristics criterion is set forth in the charter as prerequisites for each member (unless otherwise specified) of our board. These skills and characteristics are as follows:


•	Knowledge, skills and experience — Knowledge, skills and experience in at least one of the primary industries in which the Company operates.


•	Fundamental financial statements — Ability to read and understand fundamental financial statements, including the Company’s balance sheet, income statement and cash flow statement, and at least have familiarity with underlying accounting rules and practices.


•	Business and financial risks — Ability to understand key business and financial risks of the Company.


•	Changing needs of society — Appreciation of the relationship of the Company’s business to the changing needs of society.


•	Financial sophistication — With respect to at least one board member, skills, attributes and financial sophistication of an Audit Committee Financial Expert.


•	Independent Director — With respect to at least a simple majority of the authorized members of the board, be an Independent Director.


•	Other specifications — Other skills and characteristics specifically identified and approved by the Committee.

These skills and characteristics are applied by the committee to each recommendation to the board.

Our Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee does not have a written diversity policy in identifying nominees for director positions. The Company provides services in several areas including the dynamic and ever-changing telecommunications marketplace. Our Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee seeks out nominees who best fit the needs of our Company at the time of an intended expansion of our board or otherwise nomination for a board position. Things that might be considered by the committee at the time of filling of a board position might include the prospective nominee’s background and experience in a particular aspect of telecommunications in the event the Company planned to expand into, or otherwise emphasize its influence in, that area of services.

The Company strategic direction criterion requires the committee’s understanding of the strategic direction requirements of the Company. Establishment of that direction is the ongoing responsibility of our board.

The board compositional needs criterion includes, but is not limited to, specific talents and experience involving technology, business, finance, administration or public service, in light of prevailing business conditions and the skills and characteristics already possessed by other members of the board. For example, in the event the board chooses to have the Company move into a new segment of the telecommunications marketplace or to expand its current services into new geographic areas in which current board members are not associated, the committee may

seek out candidates to fill additional positions on the board to expand its skills and characteristics in that new segment or its contacts with that expanded geographic area.

The Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee typically meets in conjunction with scheduled meetings of the board. The committee seeks to identify and recommend individuals as nominees to the board depending upon the needs of the board, e.g., to change its size or otherwise bring additional skills and characteristics to the board. The Company maintains open communication with its shareholders and provides a procedure whereby a qualified shareholder of record for a shareholder meeting may make a recommendation of a nominee for director as further discussed elsewhere in the Proxy Statement. See, “Shareholder Communications” and “Future Shareholder Proposals and Recommendations.” Under the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee Charter, a recommendation of a director nominee from such a shareholder must be reviewed and evaluated by the committee, and the committee’s determination on that recommendation must be subject to application of the same criteria as applied by the committee on existing board members standing for re-election to the board.

Under the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee Charter, the committee is required, at least annually as a part of the Company’s assessment of strategic direction, to review with the board the board skills and characteristics criterion. As a part of this review, the committee is further required to recommend appropriate amendments to, or changes of, that criterion. In addition, under the charter the committee must review on an annual basis the board’s committee structure and recommend to the board for its approval directors to serve as members of each of those committees. Also under the charter, the committee is to establish criteria and process for, and lead the board and each board committee in, its annual performance self-evaluation. Each such evaluation is to include discussion with the full board following the end of each calendar year and focus on contributions to the Company by the board and each board committee and on areas in which a better contribution can be made.

There were no shareholder recommendations for director nominees for the Annual Meeting. In addition, as a result of the above referenced review conducted by the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee in 2016 and as of the Record Date, the committee concluded, and as of the Record Date continued to be satisfied, that the process for identifying and evaluating nominees for director, including the procedures for processing nominees recommended by our shareholders, meet our needs.

Board Attendance. Our board held four meetings during 2016. All incumbent directors, as disclosed in this Proxy Statement, attended 75% or more of the meetings of our board and of committees of the board for which they individually were seated as directors.

Meetings of Independent Directors. The Independent Directors seek to meet at least two times per year. The Independent Director meetings are held without any of our management directors or employees present. The presiding director at this meeting is the Chairman of the Board. During 2016, the Independent Directors met two times.

Director Independence

Mr. Brett, our Chairman of the Board, is in that capacity an officer under our Bylaws and responsible for the conduct of our board meetings and shareholder meetings when present. However, he is considered by our board to have no greater influence on our affairs or authority to act on behalf of us than any of the non-executive directors on our board.

Our board believes each of its members satisfies the definition of an Independent Director, with the exception of Mr. Duncan who is an officer and employee of the Company. That is, in the case of all other board members, our board believes each of them is an individual having a relationship which does not interfere with the exercise of independent judgment in carrying out the member’s director responsibilities to us.

Board Leadership Structure and Role in Risk Oversight

Structure. Under our Bylaws and during 2016 and up through the Record Date, our board elected from its members or otherwise elected a number of senior vice presidents and Company division managers as Chairman of the Board, President, Secretary and Treasurer. The compliment of all such officers and managers as of the Record Date are as displayed previously. See “Governance of Company: Directors and Executive Officers.”

Under our Bylaws, any of our officers may or may not be directors, except that the Chairman of the Board and the President must be directors. Also under our Bylaws, an officer holds office until the first meeting of our board following an annual meeting subsequent to his or her election. Individuals elected to those officer positions serve in those positions, subject to their earlier death, resignation or removal in accordance with our Articles, Bylaws and Alaska law, until their successors are chosen and qualified.

Under Alaska law as applied to the Company, any individual may simultaneously hold more than one officer position, except that the positions of president and secretary must be held by separate individuals. During 2016 and up through the Record Date, the positions of Chairman of the Board and President were held by separate individuals, i.e., Messrs. Brett and Duncan, respectively. The positions of Secretary and Treasurer were held by Mr. Pounds during 2016 through the Record Date. Furthermore, during that time period the positions of Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer for the Company were held by separate individuals, i.e., Messrs. Brett and Duncan, respectively.

These divisions of responsibilities have been in place for many years and we have found that this division of responsibilities works well in the best interest of the Company and its shareholders. That is, it allows our President and Chief Executive Officer to concentrate on the operational aspects of the Company and our Chairman of the Board to concentrate on the functions of our board and its relationship to our shareholders.

Under our Bylaws in case any office becomes vacant, our board has the power to fill the vacancy. In case of absence or disability of an officer, the board may, under our Bylaws, delegate the powers or duties of that officer to another Company officer. Also under our Bylaws, our board as the governing body of the Company may by at least a simple majority vote of the whole board set the number of positions on the board. However, under our Articles and Bylaws, that number cannot be less than three or more than twelve.

Other guidelines for the structure and conduct of business of the board are set forth in our Bylaws. These include, but are not limited to, classification of the board, election of directors, removal of directors, establishment of the Executive Committee and other committees of the board, places of meetings, notice and conduct of meetings, director compensation, declaration of dividends, action without meeting and meetings held other than in person.

We believe that this leadership structure has proved appropriate for us. In carrying on the day-to-day operation of the Company, separate managers and officers possessing the experience and leadership skills are necessary elements of the Company’s approach to the communications markets which it serves. Each of the members of our board brings to the table significant experience in telecommunications separate from the Company.

For example, Mr. Brett has served as a senior executive officer for a broadband company. Mr. Duncan is a founder of, and has served as president of, our Company for over 30 years. Similarly, many of our senior executive officers have served us in excess of 20 years. Details as to the past experience of these important individuals are set forth elsewhere in the Proxy Statement. See, “Governance of the Company: Directors and Executive Officers.” Our leadership structure has allowed us to grow by expanding our geographic area of services within Alaska and elsewhere and by acquisition of other businesses that had provided such services.

Risk Oversight. Under our board’s leadership structure, risk oversight policy ultimately resides in the board and is an integral part of our board’s deliberations throughout the year. While management is responsible for daily management of risk, our board directly and through its committees has responsibility for oversight of risk management. Although our board committees meet from time to time separate from board meetings, risk issues are also brought before the board directly. This approach works well for us, particularly for our Compensation Committee and our Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee. This oversight is addressed in the context of the Company’s strategic direction as established by the board. It also comes into play as the board continually addresses evolving technology, and business and finance needs and opportunities of the Company.

Our board relies upon our president and our senior executive officers to identify risks to the Company and its operation and success in the telecommunications marketplace. Our board chair, as well as other board members, (with the exception of Mr. Duncan) are Independent Directors. Our board also relies upon its committee structure for recommendations as to risk identification and response. Executive officer and committee reviews and recommendations on risk are usually made orally to the board.

In some cases, our board carries out its responsibilities relating to risk oversight by delegating certain specific risk areas to the board committee whose specific duties and area of expertise are best suited to addressing that risk.

For example, among other tasks, our Audit Committee oversees material risks relating to our liquidity, credit, operations and regulatory compliance. Our Compensation Committee routinely oversees material risks relating to our compensation policies and practices. An important task of our Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee is overseeing material risks relating to director independence and potential conflicts of interests. With information obtained from these reports or otherwise through direct discussion of the risk issues by the full board, our board may then ask questions about, and deliberate and take action in the form of, establishing new policies and issuing new directives to our president or one of our committee chairs, as the case may be, for appropriate analysis or action.

In summary, we believe our leadership structure allows our board to play a critical role in oversight of material risks and to provide direction to management. At the same time it accommodates the fact that risk management is primarily a responsibility of our management.

Compensation Committee Interlocks and Insider Participation

Our Compensation Committee is composed of five members of our board as identified elsewhere in this Proxy Statement. All of these members served on the committee during all of 2016 with the exception of Ms. Baker who became a member of the committee in October 2016. See, “Governance of Company: Board and Its Committees; Meetings — Compensation Committee.” The relationships of them to us are described elsewhere in this Proxy Statement. See, “Governance of Company: Directors and Executive Officers”; “Ownership of Company”; and “Certain Transactions.”

Compensation Committee Report

The Compensation Committee has reviewed and discussed with management the Compensation Discussion and Analysis. Based upon that review and discussion, the Compensation Committee recommended to our board that the Compensation Discussion and Analysis be included in our Annual Report and in this Proxy Statement.

Compensation Committee

Jerry A. Edgerton, Chair

Bridget L. Baker

Stephen M. Brett

Stephen R. Mooney

James M. Schneider

Director Compensation

The following table sets forth certain information concerning the cash and non-cash compensation earned by our directors ("Director Compensation Plan"), each for services as a director during the year ended December 31, 2016:

2016 Director Compensation¹



Name	Fees Earned or Paid in Cash ($)	Stock Awards² ($)	Option Awards ($)	Non-Equity Incentive Plan Compensation ($)	Change in Pension Value and Nonqualified Deferred Compensation Earnings ($)	All Other Compensation ($)	Total ($)
Stephen M. Brett	65,000	111,300	—	—	—	—	176,300
Bridget L. Baker	65,000	111,300	—	—	—	—	176,300
Jerry A. Edgerton	65,000	111,300	—	—	—	—	176,300
Scott M. Fisher	65,000	111,300	—	—	—	—	176,300
William P. Glasgow	65,000	111,300	—	—	—	—	176,300
Mark W. Kroloff	65,000	111,300	—	—	—	—	176,300
Stephen R. Mooney	90,000	111,300	—	—	—	—	201,300
James M. Schneider	65,000	111,300	—	—	—	—	176,300
Eric L. Zinterhofer	65,000	111,300	—	—	—	—	176,300

¹ Compensation to Mr. Duncan as a director is described elsewhere in this report. See "Executive Compensation" and "Compensation Discussion and Analysis."
² Each director received a grant award of 7,500 shares of Company Class A common stock on June 1, 2016 (the grant date). The value of the shares on the date of grant was $14.84 per share, i.e., the closing price of the stock on Nasdaq on that date and as calculated in accordance with FASB ASC Topic 718.

Our initial Director Compensation Plan was adopted in 2004 by our board to acknowledge and compensate, from time to time, directors on the board for ongoing dedicated service. During 2016, the Director Compensation Plan provided for $65,000 per year for all Directors with the exception of Mr. Mooney, Audit Committee chair, who will receive an additional $25,000 per year (paid quarterly).

During 2016, the stock compensation portion of our Director Compensation Plan consisted of a grant of 7,500 shares of Class A common stock to a director for a year of service, or a portion of a year of service. Because the shares vest upon award, they are subject to taxation based upon the then fair market value of the vested shares.

Except for our Director Compensation Plan, during 2016 the directors on our board received no other direct compensation for serving on the board and its committees. However, they were reimbursed for travel and out-of-pocket expenses incurred in connection with attendance at meetings of our board and its committees.

Compensation Consultant, Legal and Other Adviser Independence

The Company has no stated policy as to selection of compensation, legal and other advisers, other than to seek out and obtain advice from such advisers as needed in the on-going operations of the Company. In the past, such counsel relating to executive compensation has been obtained, if at all, by our Compensation Committee, subject to ratification by our board, from persons who are not officers, directors or employees of the Company. That counsel has been retained based upon services which the adviser offers and our needs at the time we seek the advice.

Litigation and Regulatory Matters

We were, as of the Record Date, involved in various lawsuits, billing disputes, legal proceedings, and regulatory matters that have arisen from time to time in the normal course of business. These actions are discussed in more detail elsewhere in our Annual Report. See “the Annual Report at Part I — Item 3 — Legal Proceedings.” However, as of that date, our board was unaware of any legal proceedings in which one or more of our directors, officers, affiliates or owners of record or beneficially of more than 5% of any class of our voting securities, or any associates of the previously listed persons were parties adverse to us or any of our subsidiaries. Furthermore, as of that date,

our board was unaware of any events occurring during the past 10 years materially adverse to an evaluation of the ability or integrity of any director, person nominated to become a director or executive officer of the Company.

In December 2010, Mr. Schneider settled charges brought against him by the SEC for actions that allegedly took place when he was the chief financial officer at Dell, Inc. Mr. Schneider is no longer employed by Dell, Inc. He settled the charges and consented to the issuance of an SEC administrative order without admitting or denying the SEC's findings, with limited exceptions. The limited exceptions are acknowledgment of the SEC's jurisdiction over Mr. Schneider and the subject matter of the SEC proceedings brought against him, and the SEC findings with respect to litigation involving that company and certain of its senior executive officers including Mr. Schneider. The court in that litigation entered an order permanently enjoining Mr. Schneider, by consent, from future violations of specified provisions of federal securities law. Mr. Schneider paid, as specified in the court's order, $3.0 million as a civil money penalty and $83,096 in disgorgement of ill-gotten gains, as well as $38,640 in prejudgment interest. In the settlement with the SEC, Mr. Schneider consented to his suspension from appearing or practicing before the SEC as an accountant for at least five years. Mr. Schneider filed an application for reinstatement to appear or practice as an accountant before the Commission as a preparer or reviewer of a public company's financial statements. That application for reinstatement was approved by the Commission on July 22, 2016.

COMPENSATION DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS

Overview

Compensation of our executive officers and directors during 2016 was subject to processes and procedures carried out through our Compensation Committee ("Compensation Program"). This compensation discussion and analysis ("Compensation Discussion and Analysis") addresses the material elements of our Compensation Program as applied to our Chief Executive Officer, our Chief Financial Officer, and to each of our three other most highly compensated executive officers other than the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer who were serving as executive officers as of December 31, 2016. All five of these officers are identified in the Summary Compensation Table ("Named Executive Officers"). See "Executive Compensation: Summary Compensation Table."

Both the Compensation Committee and the Company believe that the compensation paid to the Named Executive Officers under our Compensation Program is fair, reasonable, competitive and consistent with our Compensation Principles. See "Compensation Discussion and Analysis: Principles of the Compensation Program."

Our Compensation Committee is composed of Messrs. Brett, Edgerton (Chair), Mooney, Schneider and Ms. Baker. All of the members of the committee are considered by our board to be Independent Directors.

The charter of the Compensation Committee guides decisions regarding our Compensation Program, the aspects of which are described elsewhere in this Proxy Statement. See "Compensation Discussion and Analysis: Process." A copy of our Compensation Committee Charter is available to our shareholders on our Internet website: www.gci.com.

Our Charter of the Compensation Committee sets forth the scope of authority of our Compensation Committee and requires the committee to carry out the following:


•	Review, on an annual basis, plans and targets for executive officer and board member compensation, if any –


◦	Review is specifically to address expected performance and compensation of, and the criteria on which compensation is based for, the Chief Executive Officer and such other of our executive officers as our board may designate for this purpose.


•	Monitor the effect of ongoing events on, and the effectiveness of, existing compensation policies, goals, and plans –


◦	Events specifically include but are not limited to the status of the premise that all pay systems correlate with our compensation goals and policies.


◦	Report from time to time, its findings to our board.


•	Administer our Amended and Restated 1986 Stock Option Plan ("Stock Option Plan") and approve grants of options and awards pursuant to the plan.


•	Strive to make our compensation plans fair and structured so as to maximize shareholder value.

In carrying out its duties, our Compensation Committee may accept for review and inclusion in its annual review with our board, recommendations from our Chief Executive Officer as to expected performance and compensation of, and the criteria on which compensation is based for, executive officers. See "Compensation Discussion and Analysis: Process."

Principles of the Compensation Program

Our Compensation Program is based upon the following principles ("Compensation Principles"):


•	Compensation is related to performance and must cause alignment of interests of executive officers with the long-term interests of our shareholders.


•	Compensation targets must take into consideration competitive market conditions and provide incentives for superior performance by the Company.


•	Actual compensation must take into consideration the Company's and the executive officer's performance over the prior year and the long-term, and the Company's resources.


•	Compensation is based upon both qualitative and quantitative factors.


•	Compensation must enable the Company to attract and retain management necessary to cause the Company to succeed.

Process

Overview. Our Compensation Committee reviews and approves the base salary, incentive and other compensation of our Chief Executive Officer and senior executive officers, including the Named Executive Officers. The analyses and recommendations of the Chief Executive Officer on these matters may be considered by our Compensation Committee in its deliberations and approvals.

Other elements of executive compensation and benefits as described in this section are also reviewed by our Compensation Committee on a regular basis.

Implementation. Discussions on executive compensation and benefits made by the Compensation Committee have been guided by our Compensation Principles. The elements of compensation as described later in this section are believed by the Compensation Committee to be integral and necessary parts of the Compensation Program.

Our Compensation Committee has concluded that each individual segment of each element of executive compensation continues generally to be consistent with one or more of our Compensation Principles. Our Compensation Committee has further concluded the amount of compensation provided by the segment is reasonable, primarily based upon a comparison of the compensation amounts and segments we provide when compared to those offered by other similar companies in our industry and in our market.

Our process for determining executive compensation and benefits does not involve a precise and identifiable formula or link between each element and our Compensation Principles. However, it takes into consideration market practice and information provided by our management. Furthermore, it is based upon the relationship of compensation as shall be paid and financial performance of the Company. It is also the result of discussion among our Compensation Committee members and management. Ultimately it is based upon the judgment of our Compensation Committee.

Each year our Compensation Committee reviews elements of compensation for each of our senior executive officers including, for 2016, the Named Executive Officers. The Compensation committee believes it has created a framework for an effective Compensation Program. The Compensation Committee modifies the Compensation Program at its discretion to continue its effectiveness for motivating the senior executive officers and aligning their

interests with the long-term interests of our shareholders. We have not compared our compensation to a peer group since 2010. We do not currently benchmark our executive compensation against other peer group companies.

Elements of Compensation

Overview. For 2016, the elements of compensation in our Compensation Program were as follows:


•	Base Salary.


•	Incentive Compensation Bonus Plan ("Incentive Compensation Plan").


•	Stock Option Plan.


•	Perquisites.


•	Retirement and Welfare Benefits.

As of the Record Date, there were no compensatory plans or arrangements providing for payments to any of the Named Executive Officers in conjunction with any termination of employment or other working relationship of such an officer with us (including without limitation, resignation, severance, retirement or constructive termination of employment of the officer). Furthermore, as of that date, there were no such plans or arrangements providing for payments to any of the Named Executive Officers in conjunction with a change of control of us or a change in such an officer's responsibilities to us. However, in the event of a change in control, the options and restricted stock of our Named Executive Officers could vest. See "Executive Compensation: Potential Payments upon Termination or Change-in-Control."

The Company has no requirements with respect to security ownership by its officers or directors, and it has no policies regarding hedging the economic risk of ownership of Company equity. Executive officers are invited to provide their input with respect to their compensation to the Compensation Committee primarily through our Chief Executive Officer.

A Named Executive Officer participating in the Compensation Program could, under terms of the corresponding Incentive Compensation Plan agreement with us and pursuant to our Deferred Compensation Plan, elect to defer a significant portion of that compensation. In this instance, the Named Executive Officer becomes our unsecured creditor. See "Nonqualified Deferred Compensation."

Base Salary. Effective January 1, 2016, based upon the process previously described in this section, the base salaries reported in the Summary Compensation Table (see "Executive Compensation: Summary Compensation Table") were approved by the Compensation Committee.

Mr. Duncan's base salary reflects cash compensation of $925,000 per year. Mr. Duncan's duties remained unchanged during 2016.

Mr. Pounds' base salary reflects cash compensation of $400,000 per year. Mr. Pounds' duties remained unchanged during 2016.

Mr. Cary's base salary reflects cash compensation of $160,000 per year. Mr. Cary was promoted to Senior Vice President and General Manager of GCI Business in 2016.

Mr. Chapados' base salary reflects cash compensation of $450,000 per year. His duties remained unchanged during 2016.

Mr. Landes' base salary reflects cash compensation of $300,000 per year. Mr. Landes' duties remained unchanged during 2016.

Incentive Compensation Plan. Overview – A portion of the Company's compensation to each Named Executive Officer relates to, and is contingent upon, the officer's performance and our financial performance and resources.

Messrs. Duncan, Pounds, Chapados, and Landes – Overview. Our board approved an Incentive Compensation Plan for four of our Named Executive Officers (Messrs. Duncan, Pounds, Chapados, and Landes, collectively referred to herein as the Four Named Executive Officers) to create a framework that aligns the interests of our executive officers with the long-term interests of our shareholders. The Incentive Compensation Plan does not apply to the fifth Named Executive Officer, Mr. Cary.

In the context of the Four Named Executive Officers, the Compensation Committee first determined the targeted annual incentive compensation for each of them. Incentive compensation is paid out in the form of 50% cash and 50% restricted stock grants that vest 100% at the end of three years, unless otherwise determined by the Compensation Committee based on the individual circumstances of each of the Four Named Executive Officers. Therefore, the incentive compensation is designed to encourage the focus of these executives on long-term performance. Discretionary annual cash bonuses are intended to reward short-term performance and to make our senior executive compensation packages competitive with comparable executive positions in other companies.

Incentive Compensation. The following table provides a summary of the 2016 incentive compensation targets for the Four Named Executive Officers:



Name	Adjusted EBITDA ($)	Discretionary ($)	Total 2016 Incentive Compensation Plan Target ($)
Ronald A. Duncan¹	394,668	1,578,674	1,973,342
Peter J. Pounds²	91,000	364,000	455,000
Gregory F. Chapados²	225,000	900,000	1,125,000
Paul E. Landes	70,000	330,000	400,000

¹ Mr. Duncan's incentive compensation target is $498,342 higher than what was disclosed in the 2016 Proxy Statement filed with the SEC on May 17, 2016. As disclosed in the 2016 Proxy Statement, Mr. Duncan's final incentive compensation target is calculated by multiplying the sum of his base salary, director cash compensation, estimated value of the stock grant for service as a director, and incentive compensation ("Total Compensation") by the percentage increase in Adjusted EBITDA from Adjusted EBITDA in 2013 and adding that to his target incentive compensation.
² Incentive Compensation is paid out in the form of 50% cash and 50% restricted stock grants that vest at the end of three years. The number of shares issued to Mr. Pounds and Mr. Chapados are determined by dividing the 50% of Incentive Compensation for shares by the price of our Class A shares on December 31, 2012, which was $9.59. This arrangement is in place for Mr. Pounds and Mr. Chapados through 2017.

The following is a description of what each of these incentive compensation targets are and how they are measured.

Adjusted EBITDA. The Adjusted EBITDA goal is intended to focus the Four Named Executive Officers on increasing Adjusted EBITDA. Adjusted EBITDA for purposes of this goal is Adjusted EBITDA, as defined in Note 12 in "the Annual Report at Part II - Item 8 - Consolidated Financial Statements and Supplementary Data" plus the cash received in excess of revenue recognized for long-term roaming arrangements. The goal is achieved by the Company recording Adjusted EBITDA that is equal to the Adjusted EBITDA target.

The target for this metric was $329.6 million in 2016 for the Four Named Executive Officers who would earn their Target Incentive Compensation for this goal if the metric was achieved. In the case of the Four Named Executive Officers, the incentive compensation earned is increased or decreased from the Target Incentive Compensation by 5% for each $1 million that the actual Adjusted EBITDA is above or below the Adjusted EBITDA metric.

Discretionary. The board will take various factors into account when deciding on the payout of the discretionary portion of the plan applying to the Four Named Executive Officers. These factors include, but are not limited to, leadership, crisis management, succession planning, strategic planning, risk management, special projects, and financial reporting.

The following table summarizes the 2016 incentive compensation achieved by the Four Named Executive Officers, each of whom participated in this plan. The 2016 incentive compensation was paid 50% in cash and 50% in the form of restricted stock grants that will vest at the end of three years after the grant date; the majority of the cash portion was paid in 2016:



Goals	Ronald A. Duncan			Peter J. Pounds			Gregory F. Chapados			Paul E. Landes
Adjusted EBITDA Goal – Target Incentive Compensation	$	394,668		$	91,000		$	225,000		$	70,000
Adjusted EBITDA Goal Achievement¹	55.0		%	55.0		%	55.0		%	55.0		%
2016 Adjusted EBITDA Incentive Compensation Earned	$	217,067		$	50,050		$	123,750		$	38,500

Discretionary	$	1,578,674		$	364,000		$	900,000		$	330,000
Discretionary Achievement²	91.9		%	102.9		%	101.6		%	81.0		%
2016 Discretionary Incentive Compensation Earned	$	1,450,197		$	374,473		$	914,411		$	267,209

2016 Incentive Compensation Earned	$	1,667,264		$	424,523		$	1,038,161		$	305,709

¹ The Adjusted EBITDA for this 2016 goal was $329.6 million for the Company. The Named Executive Officers would earn their Target Incentive Compensation for this goal if the Company had Adjusted EBITDA equal to the metric. The Target Incentive Compensation is increased or decreased by 5% for each $1 million that the actual Adjusted EBITDA is above or below the metric. For 2016, the actual Adjusted EBITDA for purposes of this goal was $320.6 million resulting in actual Adjusted EBITDA that was $9.0 million below the metric, therefore, the earned Incentive Compensation for the Adjusted EBITDA goal was decreased by 45%.

² Our Compensation Committee considered the following factors regarding the Discretionary Achievement of the Named Executive Officers. With regard to Mr. Duncan, the Compensation Committee took into account his leadership during 2016, performance in developing a strategic plan for key components of our business, diversification and succession planning. With regard to Mr. Pounds, the Compensation Committee considered his leadership in regards to risk management, debt refinancing, succession planning, financial planning and management, and financial reporting. With regard to Mr. Chapados, the Compensation Committee considered, among other things, his leadership, his operating of the Wireline segment, his strategic and financial planning, and risk management. With regard to Mr. Landes, the Compensation Committee considered his leadership in succession planning, financial management and reporting, and his efforts meeting core corporate goals.

Mr. Cary - Mr. Cary's cash incentive compensation was paid in accordance with substantial growth in the former business line known as Mangaged Broadband. Additionally, Mr. Cary's incentive compensation rewarded him for his progress in restructuring the departments that serve our commercial customers. Mr. Cary's incentive plan for 2017 will be the same as the Four Named Executive Officers.

2017 Incentive Compensation Targets. Based on discussions with our CEO, management and the practices of other companies, our Compensation Committee approved the following incentive compensation targets for our Named Executive Officers for 2017:



Name	Adjusted EBITDA ($)	Discretionary ($)	Total 2017 Incentive Compensation Plan Target ($)
Ronald A. Duncan¹	434,131	1,736,526	2,170,657
Peter J. Pounds²	102,375	352,625	455,000
Martin E. Cary	97,500	552,500	650,000
Gregory F. Chapados²	270,619	932,131	1,202,750
Paul E. Landes	79,500	450,500	530,000

¹ Mr. Duncan's incentive compensation target is calculated by multiplying the sum of his base salary, director cash compensation, estimated value of the stock grant for service as a director, and incentive compensation ("Total Compensation") by the percentage increase in Adjusted EBITDA from Adjusted EBITDA in 2013 and adding that to his target incentive compensation. Therefore, the exact amount of Mr. Duncan's 2017 Incentive Compensation Plan Target will not be known until the completion of fiscal year 2017.
² Incentive Compensation is paid out in the form of 50% cash and 50% restricted stock grants that vest at the end of three years. The number of shares issued to Mr. Pounds and Mr. Chapados are determined by dividing the 50% of Incentive Compensation for shares by the price of our Class A shares on December 31, 2012, which was $9.59. This arrangement is in place for Mr. Pounds and Mr. Chapados through 2017.

The Compensation Committee may change the incentive compensation amounts between the goals at its discretion.

Retention Incentives. Restricted stock grants are issued periodically to Named Executive Officers to encourage the executive to stay with the Company and to help the Named Executive Officers stay focused on the long-term performance of the Company. Messrs. Pounds and Cary received restricted stock grant of 75,000 shares each during 2016 as a retention incentive. Mr. Landes received restricted stock grant of 50,000 shares during 2016 as a retention incentive. Such shares will vest 100% on November 30, 2021.

Stock Option Plan. Awards, if granted to the Named Executive Officers, were granted pursuant to terms of our Stock Option Plan. Awards, if granted, were granted contemporaneously with the approval of the Compensation Committee, typically early in the year in question or late in the previous year as described above. See "Compensation Discussion and Analysis: Elements of Compensation – Incentive Compensation Plan."

We adopted our stock option plan in 1986. It has been subsequently amended from time to time and presently is our Stock Option Plan, i.e., our Amended and Restated 1986 Stock Option Plan. Under our Stock Option Plan, we are authorized to grant awards and options to purchase shares of Class A common stock to selected officers, directors and other employees of, and consultants or advisors to, the Company and its subsidiaries. We have not issued any stock options since 2010. The selection of grantees for awards under the plan is made by our Compensation Committee.

The number of shares of Class A common stock allocated to the Stock Option Plan is 15.7 million shares. The number of shares for which options or awards may be granted is subject to adjustment upon the occurrence of stock dividends, stock splits, mergers, consolidations and certain other changes in corporate structure or capitalization. As of the Record Date, 1.7 million shares had been granted subject to vesting, 6.3 million share grants had vested, 8.7 million shares had been issued upon the exercise of options under the plan, 2.1 million shares had been repurchased by the plan and 1.1 million shares remained available for additional grants under the plan.

Restricted stock awards granted under the Stock Option Plan may be subject to vesting conditions based upon service or performance criteria as the Compensation Committee may specify. These specifications may include attainment of one or more performance targets. Shares acquired pursuant to such an award may not be transferred by the participant until vested. Unless otherwise provided by the Compensation Committee, a participant will forfeit any shares of restricted stock where the restrictions have not lapsed prior to the participant's termination of service with us. Participants holding restricted stock will have the right to vote the shares and to receive dividends paid, if any. However, those dividends or other distributions paid in shares will be subject to the same restrictions as the original award.

Our Compensation Committee selects each grantee and the time of grant of an option or award and determines the terms of each grant, including the number of shares covered by each grant and the exercise price. In selecting a participant, as well as in determining these other terms and conditions of each grant, our Compensation Committee takes into consideration such factors as it deems, in its sole discretion, relevant in connection with accomplishing the purpose of the plan.

Under our Stock Option Plan, our authority to modify or amend the plan is subject to prior approval of our shareholders only in cases of increasing the number of shares of our stock allocated to, and available and reserved for, issuance under the plan, changing the class of persons eligible to receive incentive stock options or where shareholder approval is required under applicable law, regulation or rule. One such law requiring shareholder approval before the Company may rely on it is Section 162(m) of the Internal Revenue Code.

Subject to these limitations, the Company may terminate or amend the Stock Option Plan at any time. However, no termination or amendment may affect any outstanding option or award unless expressly provided by the Compensation Committee. In any event, no termination or amendment of the plan may adversely affect an outstanding option or award without the consent of the participant unless necessary to comply with applicable law, regulation or rule.

With limited exception, no maximum or minimum exists with regard to the amount, either in dollars or in numbers, of options that may be exercised in any year, either by a single optionee or by all optionees under our Stock Option

Plan. At the 2002 annual meeting, our shareholders approved an amendment to the plan placing a limitation on accumulated grants of options of not more than 500,000 shares of Class A common stock per optionee per year.

With these exceptions, there are no fixed limitations on the number or amount of securities being offered, other than the practical limitations imposed by the number of employees eligible to participate in the plan and the total number of shares of stock authorized and available for granting under the plan. Shares covered by options which have terminated or expired for any reason prior to their exercise are available for grant of new options pursuant to the plan.

Perquisites. The Company provides certain perquisites to its Named Executive Officers. The Compensation Committee believes these perquisites are reasonable and appropriate and consistent with our awareness of perquisites offered by similar publicly traded companies. The perquisites assist in attracting and retaining the Named Executive Officers and, in the case of certain perquisites, promote health, safety and efficiency of our Named Executive Officers. These perquisites are as follows:

•

Use of Company Aircraft – The Company permits employees, including the Named Executive Officers, to use Company aircraft for personal travel for themselves and their guests. Such travel generally is limited to a space available basis on flights that are otherwise business-related. Where a Named Executive Officer, or a guest of that officer, flies on a space available basis, the additional variable cost to the Company (such as fuel, catering, and landing fees) is de minimus. As a result, no amount is reflected in the Summary Compensation Table for that flight. Where the additional variable cost to the Company occurs on such a flight for solely personal purposes of that Named Executive Officer or guest, that cost is included in the Summary Compensation Table entry for that officer. Because it is rare for a flight to be purely personal in nature, fixed costs (such as hangar expenses, crew salaries and monthly leases) are not included in the Summary Compensation Table. In any case, in the event such a cost is non-deductible by the Company under the Internal Revenue Code, the value of that lost deduction is included in the Summary Compensation Table entry for that Named Executive Officer. When employees, including the Named Executive Officers, use Company aircraft for such travel they are attributed with taxable income in accordance with regulations pursuant to the Internal Revenue Code. The Company does not "gross up" or reimburse an employee for taxes he or she owes on such attributed income. The variable cost of the aircraft for personal travel, if any, is included in the respective entries in the Summary Compensation Table. See "Executive Compensation: Summary Compensation Table."

•

Enhanced Long-Term Disability Benefit – The Company provides the Named Executive Officers and other senior executive officers of the Company with an enhanced long-term disability benefit. This benefit provides a supplemental replacement income benefit of 60% of average monthly compensation capped at $10,000 per month. The normal replacement income benefit applying to other of our employees is capped at $5,000 per month.

•

Enhanced Short-Term Disability Benefit – The Company provides the Named Executive Officers and other senior executive officers of the Company with an enhanced short-term disability benefit. This benefit provides a supplemental replacement income benefit of 66 2/3% of average monthly compensation, capped at $2,300 per week. The normal replacement income benefit applying to other of our employees is capped at $1,150 per week.


•	Miscellaneous – Aside from benefits offered to its employees generally, the Company provided miscellaneous other benefits to its Named Executive Officers including the following (see "Executive Compensation: Summary Compensation Table – Components of 'All Other Compensation'"):


◦	Success Sharing – An incentive program offered to all of our employees that shares 15% of the excess Adjusted EBITDA over the highest previous year ("Success Sharing").

◦

Board Fees – Provided to Mr. Duncan as one of our directors. The Compensation Committee believes that it is appropriate to provide such board fees to Mr. Duncan given the additional oversight responsibilities and the accompanying liability incumbent upon members of our board. In determining the appropriate amount of overall compensation payable to Mr. Duncan in his capacity as Chief Executive Officer, the Compensation Committee does take into account any such board fees that are payable to Mr. Duncan. This monitoring of Mr. Duncan's overall compensation package for services rendered as Chief Executive Officer and as a director is done to ensure that Mr. Duncan is not being doubly compensated for the same services rendered to the Company.

Retirement and Welfare Benefits – GCI 401(k) Plan. In January 1987, we adopted an Employee Stock Purchase Plan (“GCI 401(k) Plan”) qualified under Section 401 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. The GCI 401(k) Plan provides for acquisition of GCI’s Class A common stock at market value as well as various mutual funds. We may match a percentage of the employees' contributions up to certain limits. Named Executive Officers may, along with our employees generally, participate in our GCI 401(k) Plan in which we may provide matching contributions in accordance with the terms of the plan.

As of March 31, 2017, there remained 4.1 million shares of Class A and 0.5 million shares of Class B common stock allocated to our GCI 401(k) Plan and available for issuance by us or otherwise acquisition by the plan for the benefit of participants in the plan.

– Deferred Compensation Arrangements. The Company offers to our executive officers deferred compensation arrangements specifically fashioned to the needs of the officer and us ("Deferred Compensation Arrangements"). During 2016, none of our Named Executive Officers participated in Deferred Compensation Arrangements.

– Welfare Benefits. With the exception of the enhanced long-term and short-term disability benefits described previously, the Company provided to the Named Executive Officers the same health and welfare benefits provided generally to all other employees of the Company at the same general premium rates as charged to those employees. The cost of the health and welfare programs is subsidized by the Company for all eligible employees including the Named Executive Officers.

Performance Rewarded

Our Compensation Program is, in large part, designed to reward individual performance. What constitutes performance varies from officer to officer, depending upon the nature of the officer's responsibilities. Consistent with the Compensation Program, the Company identified key business metrics and established defined targets related to those metrics for each Named Executive Officer. In the case of each Named Executive Officer, the targets were regularly reviewed by management, from time to time, and provided an immediate and clear picture of performance and enabled management to respond quickly to both potential problems as well as potential opportunities. The Compensation Program also was used to establish and track corresponding applicable targets for individual management employees.

In 2016, the Compensation Program was used in the development of each Named Executive Officer's individual performance goals and established incentive compensation targets. The Compensation Committee evaluated the performance of each of the executive officers and the financial performance of the Company and awarded incentive compensation as described above. See "Compensation Discussion and Analysis: Elements of Compensation – Incentive Compensation Plan."

Our Compensation Committee determined to increase the cash component of Mr. Cary’ base salary from $160,000 to $200,000 effective January 1, 2017 and establish a total incentive compensation plan target for 2017 of $650,000 for Mr. Cary. The increases to Mr. Cary's base salary and Incentive Compensation are to compensate him for the additional responsibilities resulting from combination of our business and managed broadband business lines. In addition, the Compensation Committee increased Mr. Chapados' total incentive compensation plan target for 2017 from $1,125,000 to $1,202,750 and Mr. Landes' total incentive compensation plan target for 2017 from $400,000 to $530,000. The increases to Mssrs. Chapados' and Landes' Incentive Compensation are to compensate them for the additional responsibilities resulting from the growth of the company. The amounts disclosed under "Incentive Compensation – Incentive Compensation Targets" reflect the increase to Messrs. Cary's, Chapados' and Landes’ 2017 incentive compensation targets.

Timing of Equity Awards

Overview. Timing of equity awards under our Director Compensation Plan and equity awards under our Compensation Program varies with the plan or portion of that program. However, the Company does not, and has not in the past, timed its release of material nonpublic information for purposes of affecting the value of equity compensation. Timing issues and our grant policy are described further below.

Director Compensation Plan. As a part of the Director Compensation Plan, we grant awards of our common stock to board members, including those persons who may also be serving as one or more of our executive officers. Mr. Duncan, a board member and Named Executive Officer, has been granted such awards in the past. These awards are made annually in June of each year in accordance with the terms of the Director Compensation Plan. The awards are made through our Stock Option Plan. See "Compensation Discussion and Analysis: Elements of Compensation – Stock Option Plan."

Incentive Compensation Plan. As a part of our Compensation Program, from time to time, we grant awards in our Class A common stock to our executive officers, including the Named Executive Officers. In particular, awards are granted in conjunction with the agreements that we enter into with Named Executive Officers pursuant to our Incentive Compensation Plan. The grants of such awards are typically made early in the year at the time our board finalizes the prior year incentive compensation plan payouts for each of the Named Executive Officers. All such awards are granted through the Stock Option Plan. See "Compensation Discussion and Analysis: Elements of Compensation – Incentive Compensation Plan" and "– Elements of Compensation – Stock Option Plan."

Stock Option Plan. As a part of our Compensation Program, from time to time, we grant stock awards in our Class A common stock to our executive officers. In all cases, regardless of the identity of the grantee, the timing, amount and other terms of the grant of awards under our Stock Option Plan are determined in the sole discretion of our Compensation Committee. See "Compensation Discussion and Analysis: Elements of Compensation – Stock Option Plan."

Grant Policy. Under our grant policy, all approved grants are granted effective the date they were approved by the committee and are priced at the market value at the close of trading on that date. The terms of the award are then communicated to the recipient within a reasonable time period.

Tax and Accounting Treatment of Executive Compensation

In determining the amount and form of compensation granted to executive officers, including the Named Executive Officers, the Company takes into consideration both tax treatment and accounting treatment of the compensation. Tax and accounting treatment for various forms of compensation is subject to changes in, and changing interpretations of, applicable laws, regulations, rulings and other factors not within the Company's control. As a result, tax and accounting treatment is only one of several factors that the Company takes into account in designing the previously described elements of compensation.

Compensation Policies and Practices in Relation to Our Risk Management

At the direction of our board, Company management has reviewed our compensation policies, plans and practices to determine whether they create incentives or encourage behavior that is reasonably likely to have a materially adverse effect on the Company. This effort included a review of our various employee compensation plans and practices as described elsewhere in this Proxy Statement. See "Compensation Discussion and Analysis: Process."

The purpose of the review was to evaluate risks and the internal controls we have implemented to manage those risks. The controls include multiple performance metrics, corporate-wide financial measures, statutory clawbacks on equity awards, and board and board committee oversight and approvals.

In completing this review, our board and management believe risks created by our compensation policies, plans and practices that create incentives likely to have a material adverse effect on us are remote.

Shareholder Advisory Votes on Executive Compensation

The agenda for the Annual Meeting includes an opportunity for our shareholders to adopt two proposals pertaining to executive compensation of our Named Executive Officers and frequency of shareholder advisory votes on executive compensation for our named executive officers as identified in our proxy statement, i.e., a frequency option of every one, two or three years. The two resolutions are further described elsewhere in this Proxy Statement. See, "About the Annual Meeting" and "Matters To Be Voted Upon."

Both of these shareholder votes are advisory only. That is, they are not binding on the Company or its board.

Our board views decisions as to compensation of Company named executive officers, including but not limited to the Named Executive Officers for 2016, as its responsibility. Our board takes this responsibility seriously and has gone to considerable effort to establish and implement a process for determining executive compensation as described elsewhere in this Proxy Statement. See, "Compensation Discussion and Analysis."

Our board carefully considers all proposals from our shareholders as further described elsewhere in this Proxy Statement. See "Future Shareholder Proposals and Recommendations." However, in light of its responsibilities to the Company, our board may or may not follow the advice of those shareholder votes.

EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION

Summary Compensation Table

As of the Record Date, the Company did not have employment agreements with any of the Named Executive Officers. The following table summarizes total compensation paid or earned by each Named Executive Officer for fiscal years 2016, 2015 and 2014. The process followed by the Compensation Committee in establishing total compensation for each Named Executive Officer as set forth in the table is described elsewhere in this Proxy Statement. See "Compensation Discussion and Analysis."

Summary Compensation Table



Name and Principal Position	Year	Salary ($)	Bonus ($)¹	Nonequity Incentive Plan Compen-sation ($)	Stock Awards² ($)	Option Awards² ($)	Change in Pension Value and Nonqualified Deferred Compensation Earnings ($)	All Other Compensation ($)³	Total ($)
Ronald A. Duncan⁴ President and Chief Executive Officer	2016	925,000	—	833,632	1,118,454⁵	—	—	83,000	2,960,086
	2015	925,000	—	1,096,999	1,269,909⁶	—	—	83,000	3,374,908
	2014	925,000	—	1,087,216	1,093,862⁷	—	—	86,228	3,192,306
Peter J. Pounds Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Secretary	2016	400,000	5,280	206,982	1,845,581⁸	—	—	18,279	2,476,122
	2015	400,000	6,417	235,888	365,456⁸	—	—	20,437	1,028,198
	2014	350,000	2,281	174,503	92,289⁷	—	—	21,426	640,499
Martin E. Cary Senior Vice President and General Manager - Business⁹	2016	160,000	115,858	711,699	1,754,254¹⁰	—	—	60,190	2,802,001
Gregory F. Chapados Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer	2016	450,000	7,313	511,768	1,020,883⁵	—	—	22,279	2,012,243
	2015	450,000	8,363	530,748	757,863⁶	—	—	24,437	1,771,411
	2014	450,000	—	499,172	2,010,889¹¹	—	—	23,426	2,983,487
Paul E. Landes Senior Vice President and General Manager - Consumer Services	2016	300,000	—	152,855	1,568,690¹²	—	—	22,279	2,043,824
	2015	300,000	472,279	233,735	72,378⁶	—	—	21,046	1,099,438
	2014	250,000	—	291,318	55,043⁷	—	—	23,907	620,268

¹ The Bonus Compensation represents compensation paid pursuant to the Incentive Compensation Plan in excess of the target payment under the plan.
²This column reflects the grant date fair values of awards of Class A common stock, restricted stock awards or stock options granted in the fiscal year indicated which were computed in accordance with Financial Accounting Standards Board ("FASB") Accounting Standards Codification Topic 718, Compensation – Stock Options ("ASC Topic 718").
³ See, "Components of 'All Other Compensation'" table displayed below for more detail.
⁴ In 2014, Mr. Duncan received $148,625 in compensation for service on our board in the form of $65,000 in director fees and a stock award valued at $83,625. In 2015, Mr. Duncan received $183,650 in compensation for service on our board in the form of $65,000 in director fees and a stock award valued at $118,650. In 2016, Mr. Duncan received $176,300 in compensation for service on our board in the form of $65,000 in director fees and a stock award valued at $111,300.
⁵ The Stock Awards granted during 2016 were for the Named Executive Officer's performance during 2015.
⁶ The Stock Awards granted during 2015 were for the Named Executive Officer's performance during 2014.
⁷ The Stock Awards granted during 2014 were for the Named Executive Officer's performance during 2013.
⁸ In 2016, Mr. Pounds received a stock award with a grant date fair value of $458,831 for his performance during 2015, a stock award with a grant date fair value of $1,386,750 as a retention incentive. In 2015, Mr. Pounds received a stock award with a grant date fair value of $268,400 for his performance during 2014, a stock award with a grant date fair value of $48,528 for his performance related to the Wireless Acquisition, and a stock award with a grant date fair value of $48,528 as a retention incentive.
⁹ Compensation for Mr. Cary is only provided for 2016 as he was not a Named Executive Officer in 2014 and 2015.
¹⁰ In 2016, Mr. Cary received a stock award with a grant date fair value of $367,504 for his performance during 2015 and a stock award with a grant date fair value of $1,386,750 as a retention incentive.
¹¹ In 2014, Mr. Chapados received a stock award with a grant date fair value of $551,389 for his performance during 2013 and a stock award with a grant date fair value of $1,459,500 as a retention incentive.
¹² In 2016, Mr. Landes received a stock award with a grant date fair value of $644,190 for his performance during 2015 and a stock award with a grant date fair value of $924,500 as a retention incentive.

The amounts reported under the "All Other Compensation" column are comprised of the following:

Components of "All Other Compensation"



Name	Year	Stock Purchase Plan¹ ($)	Board Fees ($)	Success Sharing² ($)	Use of Company Leased Aircraft³ ($)	Miscellaneous ($)	Total ($)
Ronald A. Duncan	2016	18,000	65,000	—	—	—	83,000
	2015	18,000	65,000	—	—	—	83,000
	2014	17,500	65,000	—	3,728	—	86,228
Peter J. Pounds	2016	18,000	—	279	—	—	18,279
	2015	18,000	—	2,437	—	—	20,437
	2014	17,500	—	1,926	—	2,000⁴	21,426
Martin E. Cary	2016	18,000		279	41,911	—	60,190
Gregory F. Chapados	2016	18,000	—	279	—	4,000⁴	22,279
	2015	18,000	—	2,437	—	4,000⁴	24,437
	2014	17,500	—	1,926	—	4,000⁴	23,426
Paul E. Landes	2016	18,000	—	279	—	4,000⁴	22,279
	2015	18,000	—	3,046	—	—	21,046
	2014	17,500	—	2,407	—	4,000⁴	23,907

¹ Amounts are contributions by us matching each employee's contribution. Matching contributions by us under our GCI 401(k) Plan are available to each of our full-time employees with over one year of service. During 2016 and 2015, the match was based upon the lesser of $18,000 ($17,500 for 2014) or 10% of the employee's salary and the total of the employee's pre-tax and post-tax contributions to the plan. See "Compensation Discussion and Analysis: Elements of Compensation – Retirement and Welfare Benefits – GCI 401(k) Plan."
² See "Compensation Discussion and Analysis: Elements of Compensation – Perquisites."
³ The value of use of Company leased aircraft is shown at the variable cost to the Company.
⁴ Compensation for attending certain management meetings.

Grants of Plan-Based Awards Table

The following table displays specific information on grants of options, awards and non-equity incentive plan awards under our Compensation Program and, in addition, in the case of Mr. Duncan, our Director Compensation Plan, made to Named Executive Officers during 2016.

Grants of Plan-Based Awards



		Estimated Future Payouts Under Non-Equity Incentive Plan Awards			Estimated Future Payouts Under Equity Incentive Plan Awards			All Other Stock Awards: Number of Shares of Stock or Units (#)	All Other Option Awards: Number of Securities Underlying Options (#)	Exercise or Base Price of Option Awards ($/Sh)	Grant Date Fair Value of Stock and Option Awards¹ ($)
Name	Grant Date	Threshold ($)	Target ($)	Maximum ($)	Threshold (#)	Target (#)	Maximum (#)			Exercise or Base Price of Option Awards ($/Sh)	Grant Date Fair Value of Stock and Option Awards¹ ($)
Ronald A. Duncan	02/12/16	---	---	---	---	---	---	55,460²	---	---	1,007,154
	06/01/16	---	---	---	---	---	---	7,500³	---	---	111,300
Peter J. Pounds	02/12/16	---	---	---	---	---	---	25,266²	---	---	458,831
	12/10/16	---	---	---	---	---	---	75,000⁴	---	---	1,386,750
Martin E. Cary	02/12/16	---	---	---	---	---	---	20,237²	---	---	367,504
	12/10/16	---	---	---	---	---	---	75,000⁵	---	---	1,386,750
Gregory F. Chapados	02/12/16	---	---	---	---	---	---	56,216²	---	---	1,020,883
Paul E. Landes	02/12/16	---	---	---	---	---	---	35,473²	---	---	644,190
	12/10/16	---	---	---	---	---	---	50,000⁶	---	---	924,500

¹ Computed in accordance with FASB ASC Topic 718.
² Represents the 50% portion of the 2015 incentive compensation paid in the form of restricted stock grants under our Incentive Compensation Plan that were not granted until 2016. Restricted stock awards are included in the "Stock Awards" column of the Summary Compensation Table above.
³ Mr. Duncan's stock award was granted pursuant to the terms of our Director Compensation Plan. See "Director Compensation."
⁴ Mr. Pounds received a restricted stock award of 75,000 shares as a retention incentive.
⁵ Mr. Cary received a restricted stock award of 75,000 shares as a retention incentive.
⁶ Mr. Landes received a restricted stock award of 50,000 shares as a retention incentive.

Outstanding Equity Awards at Fiscal Year-End Table

The following table displays specific information on unexercised options, stock that has not vested and equity incentive plan awards for each of the Named Executive Officers and outstanding as of December 31, 2016. Vesting of these options and awards varies for the Named Executive Officers as described in the footnotes to the table.

Outstanding Equity Awards at Fiscal Year-End



	Option Awards				Stock Awards
Name	Number of Securities Underlying Unexercised Options (#) Exercisable	Number of Securities Underlying Unexercised Options (#) Unexercisable	Option Exercise Price ($)	Option Expiration Date	Number of Shares or Units of Stock That Have Not Vested (#)		Market Value of Shares or Units of Stock that Have Not Vested ($)		Equity Incentive Plan Awards: Number of Unearned Shares, Units or Other Rights That Have Not Vested (#)	Equity Incentive Plan Awards: Market or Payout Value of Unearned Shares, Units or Other Rights That Have Not Vested ($)
Ronald A. Duncan	---	---	---	---	79,070	¹	1,537,912	¹	---	---
Ronald A. Duncan	---	---	---	---	55,460	²	1,078,697	²	---	---
Peter J. Pounds	---	---	---	---	50,000	³	972,500	³	---	---
	---	---	---	---	18,434	¹	358,541	¹	---	---
	---	---	---	---	1,666	⁴	32,404	⁴	---	---
	---	---	---	---	3,333	⁵	64,827	⁵	---	---
	---	---	---	---	25,266	²	491,424	²	---	---
	---	---	---	---	75,000	⁶	1,458,750	⁶	---	---
Martin E. Cary	---	---	---	---	7,795	¹	151,613	¹	---	---
	---	---	---	---	13,491	⁷	262,400	⁷	---	---
					75,000	⁶	1,458,750	⁶
Gregory F. Chapados	---	---	---	---	90,000	⁸	1,750,500	⁸	---	---
	---	---	---	---	52,051	¹	1,012,392	¹	---	---
	---	---	---	---	56,216	²	1,093,401	²	---	---
Paul E. Landes	---	---	---	---	4,971	¹	96,686	¹	---	---
	---	---	---	---	35,473	²	689,950	²	---	---
	---	---	---	---	29,482	³	573,425	³	---	---
	---	---	---	---	50,000	⁶	972,500	⁶	---	---

¹ Restricted stock vests on November 30, 2017.
² Restricted stock vests on November 30, 2018.
³ Restricted stock vests on December 7, 2017.
⁴ Restricted stock vests on February 6, 2017.
⁵ Restricted stock vests on February 6, 2018.
⁶ Restricted stock vests on November 30, 2021.
⁷ Restricted stock vests 6,746 shares on November 30, 2017 and 6,745 shares on November 30, 2018.
⁸ Restricted stock vests 30,000 shares on January 1, 2017, 2018 and 2019, respectively.

Option Exercises and Stock Vested Table

The following table displays specific information on each exercise of stock options, stock appreciation rights, and similar instruments, and each vesting of stock, including restricted stock, restricted stock units and similar instruments on an aggregate basis, for each of the Named Executive Officers during 2016:

Option Exercises and Stock Vested



	Option Awards		Stock Awards
Name	Number of Shares Acquired on Exercise (#)	Value Realized on Exercise ($)	Number of Shares Acquired on Vesting (#)		Value Realized on Vesting ($)
Ronald A. Duncan	---	---	103,827		1,750,523
Ronald A. Duncan	---	---	7,500	¹	111,300
Peter J. Pounds	---	---	1,667		28,756
	---	---	9,485		159,917
Martin E. Cary	---	---	9,669		163,019
	---	---	7,796		131,441
	---	---	6,746		113,738
Gregory F. Chapados	---	---	100,000		1,469,000
	---	---	56,669		955,439
	---	---	30,000		585,000
Paul E. Landes	---	---	5,657		95,377

¹ This stock award relates to Mr. Duncan's service as one of our directors.

Potential Payments upon Termination or Change-in-Control

As of the Record Date, there were no compensatory plans or arrangements providing for payments to any of the Named Executive Officers in conjunction with any termination of employment or other working relationship of such an officer with us (including without limitation, resignation, severance, retirement or constructive termination of employment of the officer). Furthermore, as of the Record Date, there were no such plans or arrangements providing for payments to any of the Named Executive Officers in conjunction with a change of control of us or a change in such an officer's responsibilities to us. However, the outstanding options and awards for each of our Named Executive Officers would vest upon his or her disability, planned retirement or death, or could vest upon a change-in-control of the Company.

NONQUALIFIED DEFERRED COMPENSATION

Deferred Compensation Arrangements

We have, from time to time, entered into Deferred Compensation Arrangements with certain of our executive officers. These arrangements are negotiated with individual officers on a case-by-case basis. Our Named Executive Officers did not participate in a Deferred Compensation Arrangement with us during 2016.

CODE OF BUSINESS CONDUCT AND ETHICS

Our current Code of Business Conduct and Ethics ("Ethics Code"), was adopted by our board in 2013. It applies to all of our officers, directors and employees. The Ethics Code takes as its basis a set of business principles adopted by our board several years ago. It also builds upon the basic requirements for a code of ethics as required by federal securities law and rules adopted by the SEC.

Through our Ethics Code, we reaffirm our course of business conduct and ethics as based upon key values and characteristics and through adherence to a clear code of ethical conduct. Our Ethics Code promotes honest and ethical conduct, including ethical handling of actual or apparent conflicts of interest between personal and professional relationships of our employees. It also promotes full, fair, accurate, timely and understandable disclosure in our reports and documents filed with, or submitted to, the SEC and other public communications made by us. Our Ethics Code further promotes compliance with applicable governmental laws, rules and regulations, internal reporting of violations of the code to appropriate persons as identified in the code and accountability for adherence to the code.

A copy of our Ethics Code is displayed on our Internet website at www.gci.com.

CERTAIN TRANSACTIONS

Transactions with Related Persons

Stanton Shareholdings, Registration Rights Agreement. As of December 31, 2016, John W. Stanton and Theresa E. Gillespie, husband and wife (collectively, "Stantons"), continued to be significant shareholders of our Class B common stock. As of that date, neither the Stantons nor the Stantons' affiliates were our directors, officers, nominees for election as directors, or members of the immediate family of such directors, officers, or nominees.

We are a party to a registration rights agreement ("Stanton Registration Rights Agreement") with the Stantons regarding all unregistered shares the Stantons hold in our Class B common stock and any shares of our Class A common stock resulting from conversion of that Class B common stock to Class A common stock. The basic terms of the Stanton Registration Rights Agreement are as follows. If we propose to register any of our securities under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended ("Securities Act") for our own account or for the account of one or more of our shareholders, we must notify the Stantons of that intent. In addition, we must allow the Stantons an opportunity to include the holder's shares ("Stanton Registerable Shares") in that registration.

Under the Stanton Registration Rights Agreement, the Stantons also have the right, under certain circumstances, to require us to register all or any portion of the Stanton Registerable Shares under the Securities Act. The agreement is subject to certain limitations and restrictions, including our right to limit the number of Stanton Registerable Shares included in the registration. Generally, we are required to pay all registration expenses in connection with each registration of Stanton Registerable Shares pursuant to this agreement.

The Stanton Registration Rights Agreement specifically states we are not required to effect any registration on behalf of the Stantons regarding Stanton Registerable Shares if the request for registration covers an aggregate number of Stanton Registerable Shares having a market value of less than $1.5 million. The agreement further states we are not required to effect such a registration for the Stantons where we have at that point previously filed two registration statements with the SEC, or where the registration would require us to undergo an interim audit or prepare and file with the SEC sooner than otherwise required financial statements relating to the proposed transaction. Finally, the agreement states we are not required to effect such a registration when in the opinion of our legal counsel a registration is not required in order to permit resale under Rule 144 as adopted by the SEC pursuant to the Exchange Act.

The Stanton Registration Rights Agreement provides that the first demand for registration by the Stantons must be for no less than 15% of the total number of Stanton Registerable Shares. However, the Stantons may take the opportunity to require us to include the Stanton Registerable Shares as incidental to a registered offering proposed by us.

Duncan Leases. We entered into a long-term capital lease agreement in 1991 with the wife of GCI’s President and CEO for property occupied by us. The leased asset was capitalized in 1991 at the owner’s cost of $900,000 and the related obligation was recorded. The lease agreement was amended in April 2008 and our existing capital lease asset and liability increased by $1.3 million to record the extension of this capital lease. The amended lease terminates on September 30, 2026. The property consists of a building presently occupied by us. As of December 31, 2016, the payments on the lease were $26,332 per month. They continue at that rate through September 2017 at which time they will increase to $27,132 per month.

In January 2001 we entered into an aircraft operating lease agreement with a company owned by GCI’s President and CEO. The lease was amended several times, most recently in May 2011. The lease term of the aircraft may

be terminated at any time by us upon 12 months’ written notice. The monthly lease rate of the aircraft is $132,000. In 2001, we paid a deposit of $1.5 million in connection with the lease. The deposit will be repaid to us no later than six months after the agreement terminates.

Searchlight Note and Derivative Financial Instrument. On February 2, 2015, we sold an unsecured promissory note to an affiliate of Searchlight Capital, L.P. ("Searchlight") in the principal amount of $75.0 million at an issue price of 100% that will mature on February 2, 2023 and bears interest at a rate of 7.5% per year ("Searchlight Note"). We may not prepay the Searchlight Note prior to February 2, 2019. On July 13, 2015, we amended the Searchlight transaction documents to permit Searchlight to pledge the Searchlight Note and related stock appreciation rights, subject to our right to redeem the Searchlight Note for 50% of its then current outstanding balance in the event a lender attempts to enforce its rights with respect to such pledged collateral.

In conjunction with the Searchlight Note, we entered into a stock appreciation rights agreement pursuant to which we issued to Searchlight three million stock appreciation rights which entitles Searchlight to receive, upon exercise, an amount payable at our election in either cash or shares of GCI's Class A common stock equal in value to the excess of the fair market value of a share of GCI Class A common stock on the date of exercise over the price of $13.00.

Searchlight became a related party as of February 2, 2015, see Notes 7(c), 9, and 13 included in "the Annual Report at Part II - Item 8 - Consolidated Financial Statements and Supplementary Data" for additional information.

Review Procedure for Transactions with Related Persons

The following describes our policies and procedures for the review, approval or ratification of transactions in which we are to be a participant and where the amount involved in each instance exceeds $120,000 and in which any related person had or is to have a direct or indirect material interest ("Related Transactions"). Here, we use the term "related person" to mean any person who is one of our directors, a nominee for director, an immediate family member of one of our directors or executive officers, any person who is a holder of five percent or more of a class of our common stock, or any immediate family member of such a holder.

A related person who is one of our officers, directors or employees ("Employee") is subject to our Ethics Code. The Ethics Code requires the Employee to act in the best interest of the Company and to avoid situations which may conflict with this obligation. The code specifically provides that a conflict of interest occurs when an Employee's private interest interferes in any way with our interest. In the event an Employee suspects such a conflict, or even an appearance of conflict, he or she is urged by the Ethics Code to report the matter to an appropriate authority. The Ethics Code, Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee Charter and the Audit Committee Charter define that authority as being our Chief Financial Officer, the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee, the Audit Committee (in the context of suspected illegal or unethical behavior-related violations pertaining to accounting, or internal controls on accounting or audit matters), or the Employee's supervisor within the Company, as the case may be.

The Ethics Code further provides that an Employee is prohibited from taking a personal interest in a business opportunity discovered through use of corporate position, information or property that properly belongs to us. The Ethics Code also provides that an Employee must not compete with, and in particular, must not use corporate position, information, or property for personal gain or to compete with, us.

The Ethics Code provides that any waiver of its provisions for our executive officers and directors may be made only by our board and must be promptly disclosed to our shareholders. This disclosure must include an identification of the person who received the waiver, the date of the grant of the waiver by our board, and a brief description of the circumstances and reasons under which it was given.

The Ethics Code is silent as to the treatment of immediate family members of our Employees, holders of five percent or more of a class of our stock, or the immediate family members of them. We consider such Related Transactions with such persons on a case-by-case basis, if at all, by analogy to existing procedures as above described pertaining to our Employees.

The leases described previously were entered into prior to the establishment of the Ethics Code.

OWNERSHIP OF COMPANY

Principal Shareholders

The following table sets forth, as of the Record Date (unless otherwise noted), certain information regarding the beneficial ownership of our Class A common stock and Class B common stock by each of the following:


•	Each person known by us to own beneficially 5% or more of the outstanding shares of Class A common stock or Class B common stock.


•	Each of our directors.


•	Each of the Named Executive Officers.


•	All of our executive officers and directors as a group.

All information with respect to beneficial ownership has been furnished to us by the respective shareholders.



Name of Beneficial Owner¹	Title of Class²	Amount and Nature of Beneficial Ownership (#)		% of Class	% of Total Shares Outstanding (Class A & B)²	% Combined Voting Power (Class A & B)²
Stephen M. Brett	Class A	90,250		*	*	*
Stephen M. Brett	Class B	—		—
Ronald A. Duncan	Class A	1,115,556	³	3.4	6.4	20.3
Ronald A. Duncan	Class B	1,174,918	³	38.5
Bridget L. Baker	Class A	27,500	⁴	*	*	*
	Class B	—		—
Jerry A. Edgerton	Class A	54,250	⁵	*	*	*
Jerry A. Edgerton	Class B	—		—
Scott M. Fisher	Class A	590,550	⁶	1.8	1.6	*
Scott M. Fisher	Class B	—		—
William P. Glasgow	Class A	66,594	⁷	*	*	*
William P. Glasgow	Class B	—		—
Mark W. Kroloff	Class A	58,600		*	*	*
Mark W. Kroloff	Class B	—		—
Stephen R. Mooney	Class A	73,900		*	*	*
Stephen R. Mooney	Class B	—		—
James M. Schneider	Class A	51,392		*	*	*
James M. Schneider	Class B	—		—
Eric L. Zinterhofer	Class A	—		—	—	—
	Class B	—		—
G. Wilson Hughes	Class A	684,761	⁸	2.1	1.9	1.1
G. Wilson Hughes	Class B	2,695	⁸	*
Peter J. Pounds	Class A	225,707		*	*	*
Peter J. Pounds	Class B	—		—
Martin E. Cary	Class A	151,026		*	*	*
	Class B	—		—
Gregory F. Chapados	Class A	539,475	⁹	1.6	1.5	*
Gregory F. Chapados	Class B	—		—



Paul E. Landes	Class A	166,968	¹⁰	*	*	*
Paul E. Landes	Class B	—		—
Black Rock, Inc. 40 East 52nd Street New York, New York 10022	Class A	4,221,965	¹¹	12.8	11.7	6.6
	Class B	—		—
Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Palisades West, Building One 6300 Bee Cave Road Austin, Texas 78746	Class A	2,308,248	¹²	7.0	6.4	3.6
	Class B	—		—
GCI 401(k) Plan 2550 Denali St., Ste. 1000 Anchorage, Alaska 99503	Class A	1,813,042		5.5	5.1	3.3
	Class B	25,807		*
Gary Magness c/o Raymond L. Sutton, Jr. 303 East 17th Ave., Ste 1100 Denver, Colorado 80203-1264	Class A	—		—	*	5.3
	Class B	334,704		11.0
Searchlight ALX, L.P. 745 5th Avenue - 27th Floor New York, NY 10151	Class A	1,727,661		5.2	4.8	2.7
	Class B	—		—
John W. Stanton and Theresa E. Gillespie 155 108th Avenue., N.E., Suite 450 Bellevue, Washington 98004	Class A	1,242,627		3.8	7.4	24.6
	Class B	1,436,469		47.1
The Vanguard Group, Inc. 100 Vanguard Blvd Malvern, Pennsylvania 19355	Class A	3,015,221	¹³	9.1	8.4	4.7
	Class B	—		—
All Directors and Executive Officers As a Group (17 Persons)	Class A	4,328,767	¹⁴	13.1	15.3	25.4
	Class B	1,177,613	¹⁴	38.6
* Represents beneficial ownership of less than 1% of the corresponding class or series of stock.
¹ Beneficial ownership is determined in accordance with Rule 13d-3 of the Exchange Act. Shares of our stock that a person has the right to acquire within 60 days of the Record Date are deemed to be beneficially owned by such person and are included in the computation of the ownership and voting percentages only of such person. Each person has sole voting and investment power with respect to the shares indicated, except as otherwise stated in the footnotes to the table. Addresses are provided only for persons other than management who own beneficially more than 5% of the outstanding shares of Class A or B common stock. The Class A shares do not include the number of Class B shares owned although the Class B shares are convertible on a share-per-share basis into Class A shares.
² "Title of Class" includes our Class A common stock and Class B common stock. "Amount and Nature of Beneficial Ownership" and "% of Class" are given for each class of stock. "% of Total Shares Outstanding" and "% Combined Voting Power" are given for the combination of outstanding Class A common stock and Class B common stock, and the voting power for Class B common stock (10 votes per share) is factored into the calculation of that combined voting power.
³ Includes the following: (a) 1,904 shares of Class A Common Stock allocated to Mr. Duncan under the Issuer’s GCI 401(k) Plan, formerly known as the Stock Purchase Plan; (b) 1,078,652 shares of Class A Common Stock and 1,174,918 shares of Class B Common Stock to which Mr. Duncan has a pecuniary interest (and for which 968,618 shares of Class A Common Stock and 1,116,917 shares of Class B Common Stock are pledged as security); (c) 20,000 shares of Class A Common Stock held by Missy, LLC, which is 25% owned by Mr. Duncan, 25% owned by Dani Bowman and 50% owned by a trust of which Mr. Duncan’s daughter is the 50% beneficiary and for which Mr. Duncan is the General Manager and has voting and dispositive power; (d) 15,000 shares of Class A Common Stock owned by the Neoma Lowndes Trust which Ms. Miller is a 50% beneficiary and for which Mr. Duncan is the trustee with sole voting and dispositive power. Does not include the following: (i) 55,560 shares of Class A Common Stock or 8,242 shares of Class B Common Stock held by the Amanda Miller Trust, with respect to which Mr. Duncan disclaims beneficial ownership (Ms. Miller is Mr. Duncan’s daughter); (ii) 63,186 shares of Class A Common Stock or 27,020 shares of Class B Common Stock held by Dani Bowman, Mr. Duncan’s wife, of which Mr. Duncan disclaims beneficial ownership.
⁴ Includes 5,000 shares of Class A common stock pledged as security.
⁵ Includes 54,250 shares of Class A common stock pledged as security.
⁶ Includes 525,200 shares of Class A common stock owned by Fisher Capital Partners, Ltd. of which Mr. Fisher is a partner.



⁷ Does not include 158 shares owned by a daughter of Mr. Glasgow. Mr. Glasgow disclaims any beneficial ownership of the shares held by his daughter.
⁸ Includes 25,781 shares of Class A common stock allocated to Mr. Hughes under the GCI 401(k) Plan, as of the Record Date. Includes 178,398 shares of Class A common stock pledged as security. Excludes 26,270 shares held by the Company pursuant to Mr. Hughes' Deferred Compensation Agreement.
⁹ Includes 11,482 shares of Class A common stock allocated to Mr. Chapados under the GCI 401(k) Plan, as of the Record Date. Includes 304,413 shares of Class A common stock pledged as security.
¹⁰ Includes 35,036 shares of Class A common stock allocated to Mr. Landes under the GCI 401(k) Plan, as of the Record Date.
¹¹ As disclosed in Schedule 13G filed with the SEC on January 12, 2017, Black Rock, Inc. has sole voting power for 4,152,366 shares of Class A common stock and sole dispositive power for 4,221,965 shares of Class A common stock.
¹² As disclosed in Schedule 13G filed with the SEC on February 9, 2017, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP has sole voting power for 2,212,028 shares of Class A common stock and sole dispositive power for 2,308,248 shares of Class A common stock.
¹³ As disclosed in Schedule 13G filed with the SEC on February 13, 2017, The Vanguard Group, Inc. has sole voting power of 53,353 shares of Class A common stock, shared dispositive power for 54,253 shares of Class A common stock and sole dispositive power for 2,960,968 shares of Class A common stock.
¹⁴ Includes 112,500 shares of Class A common stock allocated to such persons under the GCI 401(k) Plan.

Securities Authorized for Issuance under Equity Compensation Plans

The following table sets forth, as of the end of 2016, information on equity compensation plans approved by our shareholders and separately such plans not approved by our shareholders. The information is focused on outstanding options, warrants and rights; the only such plan is our Stock Option Plan as approved by our shareholders.

Equity Compensation Plan Information



Plan category	Number of securities to be issued upon exercise of outstanding options, warrants and rights	Weighted-average exercise price of outstanding options, warrants and rights ($)	Number of securities remaining available for future issuance under equity compensation plans (excluding securities reflected in the second column)
Equity compensation plans approved by security holders	3,000	6.74	1,517,940
Total:	3,000	6.74	1,517,940

Section 16(a) Beneficial Ownership Reporting Compliance

Section 16(a) of the Exchange Act requires executive officers and directors and persons who beneficially own more than 10% of the outstanding common stock to file initial reports of ownership on Form 3 and reports of changes in ownership on Forms 4 and 5 with the SEC. Executive officers, directors, and greater than 10% beneficial owners are required by SEC regulations to furnish us with copies of all Section 16(a) forms that they file.

Based solely on a review of the copies of such forms furnished to us, each of our directors, officers and beneficial owners of more than 10% of the outstanding common stock have filed all forms required by Section 16 of the Exchange Act in 2015 on a timely basis, except that one of our executives (Mr. Hughes) inadvertently failed to file a Form 4 with the SEC for transactions that occurred on April 2, 2015, April 6, 2015, and April 8, 2015. The filing to report those transactions was made on February 13, 2017.

Additionally, Ms. Pidgeon recently informed the Company that her financial adviser engaged in transactions for her account, pursuant to an investment strategy she approved for the purpose of protecting against a decline in the value of her shares of our common stock, which should have been reported on Forms 4. Ms. Pidgeon has informed

the Company that, based on her review of the trading activity in the account, 54 transactions occurred during 2016 that should have been reported on 17 Forms 4. Ms. Pidgeon has informed us that she is in the process of preparing a report of all of the transactions and will file the report as soon as practicable.

AUDIT COMMITTEE REPORT

Our Audit Committee has reviewed and discussed with management our audited financial statements for 2016. In addition, the committee has discussed with Grant Thornton, our External Accountant for that year, the matters required to be discussed by Statement of Accounting Standard 61 (as amended), as adopted by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (“PCAOB”). Those matters included our External Accountant discussing with the committee the External Accountant’s judgment about the quality, not just acceptability, of our accounting principles as applied to our financial reporting.

Our Audit Committee has received written disclosures and a letter dated March 2, 2017 from our External Accountant for 2016 required by applicable requirements of PCAOB pertaining to the External Accountant’s communications with our Audit Committee as to independence and has discussed with our External Accountant its independence from us. The letter addressed all relationships with us that could affect independence and stated that, as of March 2, 2017, our External Accountant for 2016 considered itself as independent accountants with respect to us under all relevant professional and regulatory standards.

Based upon these reviews and discussions, our Audit Committee has recommended to our board that the audited financial statements for 2015 be included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Audit Committee

Stephen R. Mooney, Chair

Scott M. Fisher

William P. Glasgow

RELATIONSHIP WITH OUR INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM

Overview

On March 1, 2017, our Audit Committee approved the appointment of Grant Thornton as the Company’s External Accountant for 2017. Also on that date, our board ratified that appointment by the Audit Committee.

Pre-Approval Policies and Procedures

We have established as policy, through the adoption of the Audit Committee Charter that, before our External Accountant is engaged by us to render audit services, the engagement must be approved by the Audit Committee.

Our Audit Committee Charter provides that our Audit Committee is directly responsible for appointment, compensation, retention, oversight, qualifications and independence of our External Accountant. Also under our Audit Committee Charter, all audit services provided by our External Accountant must be pre-approved by the Audit Committee.

Our pre-approval policies and procedures with respect to Non-Audit Services include as a part of the Audit Committee Charter that the Audit Committee may choose any of the following options for approving such services:


•	Full Audit Committee – The full Audit Committee can consider each Non-Audit Service.


•	Designee – The Audit Committee can designate one of its members to approve a Non-Audit Service, with that member reporting approvals to the full committee.


•	Pre-Approval of Categories – The Audit Committee can pre-approve categories of Non-Audit Services. Should this option be chosen, the categories must be specific enough to ensure both of the following –


◦	The Audit Committee knows exactly what it is approving and can determine the effect of such approval on auditor independence.


◦	Management will not find it necessary to decide whether a specific service falls within a category of pre-approved Non-Audit Service.

The Audit Committee's pre-approval of Non-Audit Services may be waived under specific provisions of the Audit Committee Charter. The prerequisites for waiver are as follows: (1) the aggregate amount of all Non-Audit Services constitutes not more than 5% of the total amount of revenue paid by us to our External Accountant during the fiscal year in which those services are provided; (2) the service is originally thought to be a part of an audit by our External Accountant; (3) the service turns out to be a Non-Audit Service; and (4) the service is promptly brought to the attention of the Audit Committee and approved prior to completion of the audit by the committee or by one or more members of the committee who are members of our board to whom authority to grant such approvals has been delegated by the committee.

During 2016 and up through the Record Date, there were no waivers of our Audit Committee pre-approval policy.

Fees and Services

The aggregate fees billed to us by our External Accountant in each of these categories for each of 2016 and 2015 are set forth as follows:

External Accountant Auditor Fees



Type of Fees	2016		2015
Audit Fees¹	$	1,406,817	1,521,063
Audit-Related Fees²	28,875		28,875
Tax Fees³	148,397		223,569
All Other Fees⁴	—		—
Total	$	1,584,089	1,773,507

¹ Consists of fees for our annual financial statement audit, quarterly financial statement reviews, reviews of other filings by us with the SEC, audit of our internal control over financial reporting and for services that are normally provided by an auditor in connection with statutory and regulatory filings or engagements.
² Consists of fees for audit of the GCI 401(k) Plan and review of the related annual report on Form 11-K filed with the SEC.
³ Consists of fees for review of our state and federal income tax returns and consultation on various tax advice and tax planning matters.
⁴ Consists of fees for any services not included in the first three types of fees identified in the table.

All of the services described above were approved in conformity with the Audit Committee's pre-approval policy.

ANNUAL REPORT

The Annual Report to our shareholders in the form of Form 10-K for 2016 is enclosed with this Proxy Statement, subject to the delivery provisions described elsewhere in this Proxy Statement. See, “About the Annual Meeting.” In addition, our Internet website provides a link to the SEC website containing copies of our filings with the SEC, including our Annual Report, recent quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and current reports on Form 8-K.

SHAREHOLDER COMMUNICATIONS

Our board follows a process of open communication with our shareholders. We file various reports with the SEC and issue public releases to the media through our board, from time to time, on matters relating to our business and our shareholders.

In addition, our shareholders are encouraged to contact our board with their questions, concerns, and comments. This communication can most efficiently be accomplished by writing to our board, generally, or to specific board members, individually, at the following mailing address:

ATTN: Secretary (Shareholder — Board Communication)

General Communication, Inc.

2550 Denali Street, Suite 1000

Anchorage, Alaska 99503

A copy of each shareholder communication will be forwarded to all members of our board within no more than five business days of receipt. In the event a shareholder communication shall be to one or more but not all of our board members, copies of it shall be distributed to all board members for their review or information, as the case may be. Each shareholder communication must include the shareholder’s full name and address as they appear in our records, as well as an identification of the number of shares registered or beneficially owned by the shareholder. Our board may, in its sole discretion, not respond to a shareholder communication not containing this information.

As a part of its open communication policy with our shareholders, our board encourages shareholders to attend annual and special, if any, shareholder meetings and to voice their questions, concerns and comments to management and the board. A portion of each such meeting is set aside for such dialogue. Our board members are encouraged to attend annual shareholder meetings to respond directly to shareholder inquiries. Nine members of our board were present at the 2016 annual shareholder meeting.

Householding

The SEC has adopted rules that permit companies and intermediaries (e.g., brokers, banks or other nominees) to satisfy the delivery requirements for proxy statements with respect to two or more shareholders sharing the same address by delivering a single proxy statement addressed to those shareholders. This process, which is commonly referred to as “householding,” potentially means extra convenience for stockholders and cost savings for companies.

A single proxy statement may be delivered to multiple stockholders sharing an address unless contrary instructions have been received from the affected shareholders. Once you have received notice from your broker, bank or other nominee or the Company that it will be “householding” communications to your address, “householding” will continue until you are notified otherwise or until you notify your broker, bank or other nominee or the Company that you no longer wish to participate in “householding.” If, at any time, you no longer wish to participate in “householding” and would prefer to receive a separate proxy statement in the future, you may (1) notify your broker, bank or other nominee or (2) direct your written request to our Corporate Secretary, General Communication, Inc., 2550 Denali Street, Suite 1000, Anchorage, Alaska 99503; telephone: (907) 868-5600. Shareholders who currently receive multiple copies of the proxy statement at their address and would like to request “householding” of their communications should contact their broker, bank or other nominee or the Company using the above information. In addition, the Company will promptly deliver, upon written or oral request to the address or telephone number above, a separate copy of this Proxy Statement to a stockholder at a shared address to which a single copy of the documents was delivered.

FUTURE SHAREHOLDER PROPOSALS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Bylaw Requirements for Shareholder Nominations and Other Proposals

A shareholder may make a nomination for director or present other matters for action from the floor at the annual meeting, under procedures specified in Article III, Section 16 of the Company’s bylaws, which requires that a shareholder provide timely advance written notice and specified information to the Company. In order for a shareholder to make a nomination or propose other business from the floor at the 2018 annual meeting, the shareholder must provide to the Company advance written notice of the proposed nomination or other business, containing all of the information specified in Article III, Section 16 of the bylaws, no earlier than January 27, 2018 and not later than February 26, 2018.

The required notice and information should be sent within the specified deadlines to:

ATTN: Secretary (2018 Annual Meeting Proposal)

General Communication, Inc.

2550 Denali Street, Suite 1000

Anchorage, Alaska 99503

The above process, which is governed by the Company’s bylaws, is in addition to, and separate from (i) the process described below under “Inclusion of Shareholder Proposals in Company Proxy Materials,” which is governed by SEC rules; and (ii) the process described below under “Recommendations” for submitting names of possible director nominees for consideration by the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee.

Use of Discretionary Authority in Connection with Shareholder Nominations and Proposals

Under the rules and regulations of the SEC, the Company will be permitted to use its discretionary authority conferred in the proxy card for the annual meeting to vote on a shareholder proposal or director nominee even if the proposal or nominee has not been discussed in the Company’s proxy statement, unless the shareholder-proponent has given timely notice to the Company of his or her intention to present the proposal or nominee for vote at the meeting. Assuming timely notice has been given, the proxies will only be voted on the matter pursuant to the grant of discretionary authority if the Company has described the proposal in the proxy statement and indicated how the persons named as proxies intend to vote on the matter. In order to be considered timely for the 2018 annual meeting, the shareholder-proponent must furnish written notice to the Company of the proposal or nominee no earlier than January 27, 2018 and not later than February 26, 2018, the same advance notice period as described above for notice of proposals to be made from the floor at the annual meeting.

Inclusion of Shareholder Proposals in Company Proxy Materials

There is a separate process from that described above if a shareholder seeks to have a proposal included in the Company’s proxy materials for the 2018 annual meeting, which process is governed by SEC rules. In order to be considered for inclusion in the Company’s proxy material for the 2018 annual meeting, shareholder proposals must be submitted in writing to the Secretary of the Company (at the address specified above under “Bylaw Requirements for Shareholder Nominations and Other Proposals”) not later than February 26, 2018, and must comply in all respects with applicable rules and regulations of the SEC relating to such inclusion. Any such proposal will be omitted from or included in the proxy material at the discretion of the Board of Directors of the Company, subject to such rules and regulations.

Questions about any of the procedures for shareholder nominations or proposals should be directed to the Corporate Secretary (at the address specified above under “Bylaw Requirements for Shareholder Nominations and Other Proposals”).

Recommendations

As our policy, the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee will, for our 2018 shareholder annual meeting, consider director candidates recommended by certain of our shareholders, subject to the shareholder recommendation procedure set forth in the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee Charter. A copy of the charter is available as described elsewhere in this Proxy Statement. See, “Governance of Company: Board and Its Committees; Meetings — Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee.”

A shareholder of ours recommending such a candidate must submit the recommendation to the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee timely in order to ensure committee consideration of it. To be timely, the recommendation must be received at the following address not earlier than January 27, 2018 and not later than February 26, 2018:

ATTN: Chair, Nominating and Corporate Governance

Committee (2017 Annual Meeting Recommendation)

General Communication, Inc.

2550 Denali Street, Suite 1000

Anchorage, Alaska 99503

The shareholder recommendation must be accompanied by a written statement in support of it. The recommendation, statement and the shareholder making the recommendation must satisfy other provisions as specified in the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee Charter.

Our Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee will review a timely received recommendation, subject to minimum qualifications, skills and characteristics and other requirements of our board as set forth in that committee’s charter and as generally described elsewhere in this Proxy Statement. See, “Governance of

Company: Board and Committee Meetings — Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee.” The shareholder recommendation will be evaluated by the committee, and the committee’s determination on that recommendation will be subject to those criteria the same as will be the case for a determination by the committee on existing board members standing for re-election.