Special Telecom Section
Micronesia
Fiber Project Needs Three Willing Partners
Transnational telecommunications superpower Tyco has built a high-speed, fiber-optic ocean cable in the Pacific, and the Federated States of Micronesia and Republic of the Marshall Islands want on board. A US$67.4 million proposal would provide connectivity from Guam to Pohnpei, Kwajalein and Majuro—3,500 km (2,175 miles) of submarine fiber-optic cable, carrying some 5,000 times the volume of any one satellite.
The Deputy General Manager of the Federated States of Micronesia Telecommunications Corporation, John Sohl, speaks excitedly about the project. “What’s most important to our customers is bandwidth. In addition to Internet and telephone services, the ocean cable will allow us to offer such things as cable television and high-end data centers. Our hope is that in offering larger amounts of bandwidth we might impact on private sector development.”
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But the project has not been without its hurdles. The congressional resolution authorizing FSMTC to borrow up to $20 million (FSMTC’s share is $17.8 million) came after a series of public hearings and considerable debate.
But FSMTC’s General Manager, Takuro Akinaga, is confident the corporation will be able to repay the loan. “Our decision to move forward with the project came after extensive research and planning.”
FSMTC could proceed with this project at any time. They have received congressional approval to incur debt, and have applied for a loan from the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture’s Rural Utilities Service. Yet the success of the deal continues to hinge on an undetermined partnership agreement between FSMTC, the Marshall Islands National Telecommunications Authority, and the U.S. Army Kwajalein Atoll Ronald Reagan Test Site.
It is clear that neither the FSM nor the Marshall Islands will be able to afford the project alone—either they proceed together, or the project fails. To remove MINTA and USAKA from the equation and extend the cable from Guam to Pohnpei, would double the project price to over $30 million.
The benefits of switching to fiber are clear. The satellite technology currently used by the FSM and RMI is extremely expensive. By shifting to fiber, annual FSMTC operating costs will fall from $351,000 to $196,000, allowing FSMTC significantly more bandwidth.
