ANCHORAGE, Alaska, April 19 /PRNewswire/ -- GCI Cable has received approval from the Regulatory Commission of Alaska to purchase Eyecom Inc.'s television facilities in Girdwood.

Talks between GCI and Eyecom began in 2007, culminating last month when the two struck a purchase agreement. The approval of the RCA allows the acquisition to move forward.

"We're looking forward to upgrading the level of service offered to Girdwood subscribers," said GCI vice president of product and content management, Bob Ormberg. "We're committed to upgrading the current analog signal to digital, allowing for clearer channels, including high definition channels."

Eyecom is a subsidiary of TelAlaska Inc.; a group of companies that provides telecommunications services throughout Alaska. In addition to roughly 500 subscribers in Girdwood, Eyecom also provides cable service to the communities of Galena, Unalaska and Dutch Harbor.

While Girdwood subscribers won't see changes take place right away, they'll eventually have access to more channels — up to 162 regular channels as well as 39 high definition channels — as well as high speed Internet and phone service.

GCI began offering cable television services in 1996, quickly becoming the leading cable provider in Alaska and offering service to some of the most remote areas of the state. For more information, visit www.gci.com.

GCI (Nasdaq: GNCMA) is the largest telecommunications company in Alaska. A pioneer in bundled services, GCI provides local, long distance and wireless telephone, cable television, Internet and data communications services throughout Alaska.

SOURCE GCI