American Samoa
Calling American Samoa
Inching Closer To Fiber Optic Capabilities
In an attempt to diversify American Samoa’s economy, create new jobs in the technology sector and improve the territory’s telecommunications services, Governor Togiola Tulafono is pushing ahead with a project to have American Samoa linked to an undersea fiber optic cable.
Togiola wants to link American Samoa to the Southern Cross-owned fiber optic cable that runs from the U.S. West Coast through Hawaii, Fiji and lands in Australia. While it has been on the table for some time, the initiative seems to have gained new momentum in recent months.
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Governor Togiola was scheduled to attend a meeting in Noumea, New Caledonia late April to discuss the project, and meet key players including U.S. based firm Tyco and French company Alcatel. He has reiterated he is confident the fiber optic cable will be in place by early 2008.
In late April he told Pacific Magazine that he was reviewing a Proposed Letter of Intent from "the Consortium."
"The letter will define the preliminary committments with regards to the work needed to bring the cable home. No work has started as there are still clients on the cable at the moment and no work is possible until that contract ends."
The closest landing point for American Samoa to link with the Southern Cross cable is Fiji. The project would cost an estimated $30-$40 million, with initial funding already committed by the U.S. government.
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| American Samoan Governor Togiola Tulafono at a conference in Honolulu, Hawaii last November. PHOTO: Associated press
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In its fiscal year 2008 budget proposal, the U.S. Department of Interior’s Office of Insular Affairs has allocated $3 million for the cable development link and OIA is exploring other options for financial support.
“We are exploring whether it is feasible to use our capital improvement project funds to back bonds, which could be issued to finance large projects like the fiber optic cable,” says Interior Department Deputy Assistant Secretary for Insular Affairs David B. Cohen.
“We already do this with our Compact Impact grants—Guam is using its Compact Impact grants to back bonds that are being used to finance a large school construction program,” Cohen says.
“If we can do this with our capital improvement project grants as well, it should be fairly easy to finance the fiber optic cable project.”
Togiola hopes to have American Samoa connected to the cable in early 2008, paving the way for a new investment sector—call centers.
A year ago, Togiola said a local company, Information Technology American Samoa (ITAS), was being formed to build and operate call centers. In February 2006 the government hosted a group of representatives of Safelite Autoglass, a U.S. auto glass repair and replacement company that was looking at potential call center locations.However, Safelite Autoglass and its associated companies were formally acquired by the Belron Group on March 3 this year. Its sister company, Safelite
Solutions operates two national contact centers with a total of 800 seats. The impact of the merger on a potential relocation of those centers to American Samoa or elsewhere is as yet unclear.
In late April Governor Togiola said while he can't name the companies currently interested, "I can say that at least two companies are already doing their due diligence. By such investigations they will satisfy themselves (as to) whether or not they will be able to establish businesses here."
Cohen believes if call centers were to establish a significant presence in the territory, it would create jobs in the private sector with wages high enough to entice people to move from government jobs.
“That could really help to correct a large structural imbalance in American Samoa’s economy: The only major private industry in American Samoa right now is the tuna canning industry, which pays low wages and mostly employs people from outside the territory,” Cohen says.
“A fiber optic cable would not be a cure-all in and of itself, but, if complementary building blocks are put into place, it could offer a lifeline that could rescue American Samoa at some point in the foreseeable future,” Cohen says.Togiola says companies looking at establishing call centers in American Samoa have raised questions as to whether there is an available workforce in the territory to meet their needs. He says the administration plans to conduct a study on the available workforce. Again they will be going to DOI to ask for funds to conduct a study. Togiola hopes the study would also examine American Samoan communities in Hawaii and California, to see if Samoans there might be lured back to the territory by higher paying call center jobs.
"One call center is looking at expansion possibilities to 2000 seats,which means 2000 employees per shift three times per day, " he says.
The American Samoa Chamber of Commerce is lending its support to the fiber optic cable project, says President David Robinson. “If this project does happen it would allow the establishment of call centers in the territory and that is a fantastic boom to the local economy, employing a large number of people with benefits spilling off into the local economy.” Robinson says apart from encouraging new investment, the cable “would also encourage local businesses to expand their operations—such as in the area of media and telecommunications.”
The cable could also bring about improved health care for American Samoans.
“Fiber optic would allow LBJ to offer significantly expanded and improved telehealth services to its patients. The real time transmission of x-rays, CT scans, ultrasounds, various telemetry measures etcetera requires tremendous band width, in the T-1 range and higher,” LBJ Medical Center Board Chairman Charles Warren says.
“Since all of our communications are via satellite, this bandwidth is currently very expensive. We anticipate that with the advent of fiber optic, capacities will go way up and costs way down. With the proper equipment and bandwidth, many assessments that are now performed off-island will be able to be performed locally.
“Second opinions from off-island specialists will be available, without the patient having to travel off-island. Over-reads, or even initial reads, of diagnostic images will be readily available, with reports received within hours instead of weeks or months,”
says Warren.
"The economic impact of this fibre optic cable will be huge for American Samoa in my estimation, " says Governor Togiola. "I am very confident it will inspire a resurgence of investments in the territory by new companies as well as as new products and services from our own esisting businesses."
He believes there is also potential to expand the cable to American Samoa's Pacific Island neighbours, which would help bring down the cost of the service.
"I want American Samoa to be the South Pacific fiber optic submarine cable hub in the Pacific."
