Docomo Pacific's ATISA undersea cable project will connect Guam, Saipan, Tinian, Rota
With roughly two months left until completion of the ATISA undersea cable system, Docomo Pacific executives and ATISA project managers hosted a tour on Friday of the CS Responder, the ship that will perform the physical cable installation.
The ATISA system is a $26 million project that will expand internet service in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. When completed, ATISA will deliver broadband internet speeds up to 100 megabits per second, more than 200 cable TV channels, fixed line telephone and TiVo service — all currently available on Guam — throughout the CNMI.
According to its FCC license application, Docomo Pacific will operate the ATISA system on a non-common carrier basis, which “will provide much needed competition on the Guam-CNMI route, and support the launch of access to bandwidth intensive services, support new economic activity in the CNMI economy, and provide more competitively priced, high speed connectivity that will benefit consumers.”
Concerns about damage to the undersea cable, given similar situations in the past, resulted in a design that specifically minimized the amount of cable that sits in shallow water, Docomo Pacific CEO Jonathan Kriegel said.
The cable will begin in Guam, and then enter deep water "on a straight shot to Saipan, and then we come out with branching units to Tinian and Rota," Kriegel said. "The design should minimize the opportunity for shallow water disruptions, where a lot of weather-driven disturbances are."
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Some permits took longer to obtain, Kriegel said, because of the time it took to consult with agencies to ensure fragile marine environments would be protected.
Cable design and site selection has been underway for about a year and a half, ATISA project manager Liezl Balan said.
Now that the cable has been designed and constructed by NEC Networks & System Integration Corporation, the physical work begins.
"I had no idea what was involved until I saw it," Balan said. "There is a team of men that work with this huge cable pan, and the cable can get quite heavy because of the protection on it."
The 68-man crew of the CS Responder will install ATISA cable at a depth of 1,600 meters, project manager Sean Lim said.
For Kriegel, ATISA is especially important because it unites the CNMI with Guam, bringing the entire region the same digital services.
"I think Tinian and Rota have traditionally been forgotten in terms of the range of telecommunication services offered, and one of the things we are doing with ATISA is putting up new cell sites," Kriegel said. "We'll have LTE service when we launch ATISA in Tinian and Rota, as well as the bandwidth and television services. We're not forgetting the communities."
When the project was still in the planning stages, Kriegel said, former governor of the Northern Mariana Islands and Rota native Eloy Inosoffered his support, on one condition.
"Originally we didn't think there was a business case to go to Tinian and Rota, but governor Enos said to me, 'Don't forget my people. If you want my support, you have to go to Tinian and Rota,'" Kriegel said.
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After Enos's death in 2015, Gov. Ralph Torres continued to support the project, offering $3 million in funding to help bring ATISA to Tinian and Rota.
"We can't say enough about the governor and those who have supported his project, because it helped our shareholders get convinced to do ATISA, not just for this project, but also to invest in these communities," Kriegel said. "We really believe that by providing more low-cost bandwidth to the communities in Northern Marianas, hospitals will have better access to telemedicine, the College of Northern Marianas and public school system in the CNMI will have access to more bandwidth at more affordable prices. The community, not just the consumers and businesses, will be able to take advantage of what ATISA can bring."
As he left the CS Responder at the end of the tour, Kriegel was picked up by a shuttle driver who asked how the tour went. "It's amazing, isn't it?" the driver asked, pointing at the ship. "That's the worldwide web, right there."
Kriegel paused a moment, then started laughing. "You know what, you're right," he said. "That's exactly what that is."
