IT&E: Fiber optic cable strong for another 32 years

IT&E’s undersea fiber optic cable, through which the CNMI communicates with the outside world, can last for another three decades, or 32 years—given proper maintenance in the waters between Guam and Saipan, says Jim Oeherking, CEO of IT&E’s parent company, PTI.

In a statement this week, the telecommunications firm sought to correct “erroneous statements” concerning the durability of their undersea fiber optic cable between the CNMI and Guam.

Last July, IT&E’s undersea cable was “cut,” triggering a telecommunications blackout in the CNMI. The event has prompted the Federal Communications Commission—the body that oversees telecommunications in the U.S.—to consider regulations to have companies submit reports on significant outages in their cable system.

In their statement, IT&E explains that long distance undersea cable systems utilize electronic repeaters, which generally limits overall life expectancy to approximately 25 years.  These repeaters sometimes fail and/or the systems become uneconomical to operate and the systems are retired in favor of new systems, but because of the shorter distance between the CNMI and Guam, IT&E operates an unrepeated cable system between Saipan, Tinian, Rota, and Guam. 

“Industry sources assure us that unrepeated cables, like IT&E’s undersea cable, have two to three times the normal life expectancy of repeated cable systems. The undersea cable has been in operation for the last 18 years and, according to industry experts, is expected to last an additional 32 years with proper maintenance,” said Oehlerking.

IT&E conducts scheduled annual inspections and maintenance on its cable system and utilizes the latest optical equipment to provision service.  IT&E says they are also committed to its cable operations by maintaining spare fiber cable and equipment on site in the event of a contingency.  The most recent repair was accomplished with on-site equipment from IT&E inventory. 

IT&E has signed multi-year maintenance agreements with both TE Subcom, the company that completed the most recent repair, and local provider CALPAC to assure continued operations well into the future. CALPAC just completed a full inspection of all of the submarine cable landing locations on Saipan, Tinian, Rota, and Guam.

“Plans are in progress for at least doubling our redundant network capacity, to allow for ongoing operations for critical government, and enterprise services in the unlikely event of any future undersea cable service interruptions,” Oehlerking said.
 
Cable cut not ‘age’ related

IT&E said the recent fiber cut was related not to the age of the fiber but rather the fact that the armored casing, which had previously been replaced in 2008, had come free from the reef during the storm surge and was subsequently damaged by the pounding surf.  

“The armored casing and fiber cable inside on the Saipan landing has been upgraded and replaced, reinforced and is entirely new thus, assuring years of continued use.  The repair was made as quickly as possible and without hesitation. The total cost of the repair exceeded $2 million, which demonstrates IT&E’s continued commitment to customer service and the CNMI. IT&E will continue with such investments in the future and is in the process of a major wireless upgrade for the CNMI, which will be announced shortly,” their statement read.

“Due to the quality of the cable we have installed, our maintenance policies and our regular inspections of all sections of the cable, we fully expect our cable to have a much longer than normal life span,” said Oehlerking. 

“IT&E spends significant money, work hours and other resources every year to ensure that our undersea cable provides the highest quality service to all of our customers in all of the islands in our market for the longest possible time and we will continue to do so,” he said.