GTA says it’s still interested to expand to the CNMI

Guam’s incumbent telecom carrier, GTA, is still interested in investing and expanding in the Commonwealth, one of its executives said.

Dan Tydingco, executive vice president for external and legal affairs at GTA, gives lawmakers on Capital Hill a presentation on GTA’s range of services and latest projects. (Joel D. Pinaroc)

Dan Tydingco, executive vice president for external and legal affairs at GTA, said the company “always intended to expand here [in the CNMI].”

Tydingco said GTA wanted to set up shop in the CNMI two and a half years ago, “wanting to become a competing local exchange carrier.”

He said, however, that GTA’s application to enter the CNMI as a business competitor is still “in the courts.”

“I don’t want to comment with that case before the court with regards to the challenges that have been posed to us entering into the market,” he said.

The case Tydingco was referring to is an ongoing legal tussle between GTA and IT&E.

Michael Norita Evangelista, legal counsel for GTA, declined to comment, saying only that the “case is still tied up in court.”

The lawyer indicated that this is the only “hindrance” for GTA to come into the CNMI.

Tydingco met with lawmakers last week on Capital Hill to provide information on GTA’s range of services and latest projects.

In a presentation, he said the Commonwealth has only one submarine cable system linking it to the outside world, unlike Guam which has several.

He described the CNMI’s connection as “single-threaded.”

On the possibility of the CNMI having another cable system, Tydingco said it is probably up to the lawmakers and the CNMI government to make the determination.

The GTA meeting was convened by Rep. Francis Taimanao (Ind-Saipan) in the aftermath of a massive communications breakdown more than a week ago that continues to affect Saipan.

On Monday, IT&E maintained that it has “no monopoly” in the CNMI.

James Oehlerking, chief executive officer of PTI, which is the parent company of IT&E, said that “anybody can come in here and compete.” He added that investors eyeing the CNMI can come anytime.

He also pointed out that they are providing service to other telecoms in the CNMI such as iConnect and Docomo.

Asked if it’s possible for the CNMI to have multiple fiber optic cable connections like Guam, Oehlerking said it’s not easy.

“Guam is much more of a through-point in the middle of the Pacific so there are multiple cables that pass through Guam,” Oehlerking said.

He added that Guam over the years has been set up as a through-point. “It’s not easy to change routes or just say let’s go through Saipan en route to say, Taiwan or China,” the executive said.

After the CNMI-wide network outage more than a week ago, Internet capacity is still not at 100 percent as connections are relying on backup systems.

Oehlerking said they will take another look into their entire system once the repairs are done. A repair vessel coming from Taiwan is on its way to the CNMI and is expected to arrive Thursday.