October 17, 2023
We have received a lot of feedback letting us know just how much our customers want to keep their gci.net email addresses. We are committed to giving consideration to this feedback and will be revisiting our available solutions.
What's happening with gci.net emails now?
We value your feedback and have decided to postpone our 2024 plan to discontinue GCI-hosted email accounts. We are actively exploring alternative solutions to ensure you can retain your current email address. We kindly request that you refrain from making any changes at this time while we work on an alternate solution.
Do I still need to pay the $4.99 fee?
Yes, you still need to pay this recently instated email fee to continue using your email.
Why are you charging $4.99 for the gci.net email address and what other changes can I expect?
GCI started providing email service in the late '90s and in the decades since we launched the service, supporting email has become increasingly expensive and complex. To help manage these complexities, we began charging an additional fee of $4.99 per email account on September 20, 2023.
Over time, as more popular email hosting platforms emerged, fewer and fewer people signed up for gci.net email accounts. We haven’t let people sign up for new accounts for eight years. It has become difficult to provide adequate support to our customers and we want to focus on what we do best—delivering connectivity across Alaska.
When will you decide about the future of gci.net email services?
While the $4.99 fee remains in place, we are looking for a solution but we want to take our time to explore all options carefully. We will keep you updated as we make progress, and any changes will be communicated to impacted users.
Which email domains apart from gci.net does this affect?
The domains that we are working to retain also include ak.net, alaskalife.net, alaskan.com, alaskan.net, anch.net, anchorageak.net, chugach.net, matnet.com, nome.net, rogershsa.com, and santanet.org.
It also includes several domains that are specific for business customers. These accounts should be able to move and maintain their domains through their current website domain provider.
Will this apply to business customers, too?
Yes, this also applies to small business customers with any of the above listed email domains.
For customers interested in moving away from GCI-provided email:
Do you recommend a different email provider?
While there are numerous options available, here are a few other choices you may consider:
Gmail: The most popular email provider, offering a user-friendly platform.
Outlook: Ideal for integrating with multiple applications.
Yahoo! Mail: Provides ample storage capacity.
iCloud Mail: Recommended for users of Apple devices, offering IMAP functionality.
For small business customers, we highly recommend GoDaddy. With GoDaddy, you can register a personalized domain name and enjoy email services that perfectly align with your domain. This is particularly advantageous if you have a custom domain instead of gci.net, as it allows for a professional and branded email experience.
Please explore these options and choose the email provider that best suits your needs and preferences. GCI is not affiliated with any of the above companies and is providing this information as a courtesy only.
To ensure a smooth transition, we recommend taking a few proactive measures as soon as you have established a new email address.
Be sure to update key customers with your new email address
If you choose to transition to another email platform, we recommend that you communicate your new address to all key contacts. Key contacts could include banks, credit card vendors, friends, family, and/or newsletter subscriptions.
Set up an automatic message
You can create a message that automatically replies to people who send you messages, informing them that you are transitioning to a new email platform.
- Go to Preferences and select Auto Reply.
- Select Send auto-reply message.
- In the text box, enter the message to be sent, such as "I am transitioning to a new email platform. You can reach me at (new email address)"
- Set the start and end dates for sending this message.
- Click Save.
Forward new email messages to my new email address
To ensure you receive new emails sent to your gci.net address up until that service is retired, you can set up email forwarding to redirect incoming messages to your new email address. This will only be effective until the gci.net email service is retired.
- Go to Preferences and in the Overview pane, select Mail.
- In the Receiving Messages section and in When a message arrives, Forward a copy to, then add the complete forwarding address. If you want to automatically delete the email from your GCI account when it is forwarded, enable Don't keep a local copy of messages.
- Click Save.