DOC awards ARPA funds to help close the digital divide

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — The Dept. of Commerce has awarded $9.5M in ARPA funding to local internet service providers — ASTCA and Bluesky American Samoa. The funds are to support the territory’s efforts to respond to any future public health emergencies like the COVID-19 pandemic, which underscored the importance of available high speed, reliable and affordable broadband coverage.

“We saw first-hand how critical broadband and internet service was and has been, as the territory went into lockdown do to the COVID-19 public health emergency,” said DOC director Petti Matila.

“Businesses, schools, government agencies, and families across the territory relied heavily on the internet to maintain continuity and some semblance of normalcy as we worked through the pandemic. The staggering increase in usage brought to light the urgent need to support improvements across the territory’s telecommunications infrastructure, and thanks to the American Rescue Plan Act or ARPA, we were able to security grant funds to develop the DOC Broadband iNEI program,” said Director Matila. The Broadband iNEI (information Network for Expansion & Inclusion) Initiative is an island-wide initiative that encourages the immediate transition to all things digital.

The following projects were awarded Broadband iNEI Grants:

MANU’A BROADBAND CONTINUITY

The American Samoa Telecommunications Authority (ASTCA) has been awarded $2,800,000 to support the immediate repairs and upgrades to the interisland submarine fiber optic cable.  The project will restore services to the outer islands and add armoring and protection to the undersea cables.

5G NETWORK UPGRADES

$3,350,000 each has been awarded to internet providers ASTCA and Bluesky American Samoa to support the deployment of a 5G network to provide internet speeds of 100/ 100 Mps to all residents.

For more information on the ARPA DOC Broadband iNEI Program, please contact the Dept. of Commerce _ Broadband Coordination Office at: [email protected].