Docomo submarine cable project gains support

A project to lay a submarine cable from Saipan to Guam by service provider Docomo Pacific has gained support from the CNMI Legislature and government.

In a session late Tuesday, members of the Senate unanimously voted “yes” to the resolution supporting Docomo’s project.

All nine senators signed off on Senate Resolution 19-14, which requests the assistance of the Office of the Governor in having the permit of Docomo Pacific “processed expeditiously so that Docomo Pacific can start its underground fiber optic network.”

S.R. 19-14 cited the recent breakdown of a submarine cable between Saipan and Tinian that caused a massive communications outage.

“The abrupt and unexpected disconnection of Internet and telephone services caused panic, frustration, and tremendous inconvenience to the people of the Commonwealth,” the resolution stated.

Docomo Pacific earlier bared plans to “significantly upgrade its network” and one of the key components of the upgrade is placing a new undersea fiber cable between Guam and the Commonwealth.

Senate President Victor B. Hocog (Ind-Saipan) said he and his colleagues in the Senate recognize that it is time for an alternative for the Commonwealth.

Hocog has also sent a copy of the approved resolution to the Department of Public Lands, the Department of Public Works, and the Bureau of Environmental and Coastal Quality for review.

Governor’s support

Gov. Eloy S. Inos yesterday said he welcomes the possibility of another submarine cable for the CNMI.

“This is good for the people. I’ve always supported these types of projects,” Inos said.

Inos thinks that IT&E, the service provider that has an existing submarine cable, would also support this, and an alternative submarine cable will probably “take out some of the pressure” from IT&E.

In mid-July, then-acting governor Ralph DLG. Torres declared a state of significant emergency for the islands of Saipan, Tinian, and Rota after a massive communications breakdown affected and effectively isolated Saipan from the rest of the world.

The IT&E-owned fiber optic cable was heavily damaged by a passing typhoon on July 8, causing the loss of mobile telephone services and Internet access throughout the Commonwealth.

The outage effectively caused businesses—including banks, financial institutions, and remittance services—to grind to a halt.

In the state of emergency declaration, Torres said the “disruption of critical infrastructure services threaten the public peace, health, and safety of the Commonwealth’s residents.”