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| Guam's very odd grant |
| Thursday, 15 April 2010 20:17 |
 95% of homes in Guam can receive DSL and most can get cable as well. There's 3G coverage across the entire island from several carriers, and the cell phone penetration is over 100%. GTA is delivering fiber to the home in three areas and intends to expand it. Guam has huge military bases and a thriving tourist trade with Japan, so is doing well economically. So why the heck did Larry give them broadband money? It's supposed to help people who can't get broadband. Was Island Telephone and Engineering's $8M grant influenced by their employment of the Governor's brother, Carlos Camacho, and the chief of staff's son, Brian Bamba? I have no evidence. Local politicians provided strong support for the grant and the even more outrageous $80M requested in round two. It could have simply been incompetent staff work.
The NTIA summary begins "Island Telephone and Engineering (IT&E) plans to bring the first high-capacity broadband services to the Territory of Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands" when in fact Guam is a connection point on three major international cables and has nearly unlimited high-capacity. As noted above, that bandwidth is delivered by several providers to everyone on the island. NTIA is paying Booz, Allen and Hamilton $99M and maybe should be asking for some of the money back.
 Part of the money is going to the Northern Marianas Islands, where they do need better infrastructure. But Guam has 200 miles of fiber in place on an island of only 212 square miles. It's all buried for protection from typhoons. GTA has invested about $1,000/home served in the last few years. That's included new fiber, DWDM for the existing fiber, 3G wireless for nearly all of the island and IPTV that's brought real competition. Many on the mainland know GTA CEO Dan Moffat, an outstanding network manager who built New Edge Networks and sold it to Earthlink. Larry Knecht of ITE writes ""Our application presented the most compelling presentation for award of all the locally submitted grants. Everyone is entitled to their opinion. GTA took part in the same process we did and we believe we submitted the superior proposal. In the end, NTIA decided that our proposal was the most beneficial to the CNMI and Guam. Carlos Camacho has been working for IT&E since 1995." Strickling turned down several applications (Hollis, Connect Kentucky, State of Massachusetts) which I knew had very strong political backing. Remarkably little of the patronage typical of government programs made it through NTIA. Something seems to have gone wrong on this one, however.
With two wireline and three wireless carriers, Guam has competition similar to most of the U.S. The high prices on the island suggests more competition would be a good thing. GTA charges $37.95 / month for 1.2 meg service and $56.25 / month for 2.5 meg. The result, particularly because incomes are much lower than the mainland, is a very low take rate.
KUAM reports the Governor responded: GTA management chooses to address this issue with a personal attack against my family. This is insulting, elementary, it is perverse and it is foolish. ... If f I were the board of directors that owns GTA, I would have Dan Moffat's job and [GTA executive vice president of external and legal affairs] Dan Tydingco's job on their table immediately - they should be terminated."
Governor Camacho is absolutely right that his brother's job is not enough, by itself to assume this is political corruption. AT&T and Verizon have literally dozens of relatives of politicians in lobbying jobs. That's a scandal, but I wouldn't therefore deny AT&T or Verizon any chance at Government money. My article is based on a review of the actual networks on the island. They are comparable or better than most of the mainland. Update: Peter Pratt has found a letter from Governor Camacho to NTIA supporting his brother's application. http://bit.ly/cPjSVK NTIA tells me the decision on round one was made before the letter was received.
Here's IT&E's Response: http://ftpcontent.worldnow.com/kuam/custom/news/041910_IT&E.Comment.pdf
Organization: Island Telephone and Engineering
Project Name: Next Generation Network Project Type: Infrastructure State(s): Territory of Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands Federal Award: $ 8,039,792 ABOUT THE PROJECT __________ Island Telephone and Engineering (IT&E) plans to bring the first high-capacity broadband services to the Territory of Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands by upgrading the existing network serving these remote and underserved areas. The project intends to upgrade local island backbone infrastructure and replace the existing inter-island transmission system, utilizing fiber, 3G wireless, and WiMax technology. The project expects to directly connect 403 anchor institutions, including community colleges, K-12 schools, libraries, health care facilities, and public-safety organizations. Network speeds from 1.2 Gbps for microwave to 10 Gbps for fiber service will be offered, enabling government agencies, schools, and businesses in these remote island locations to benefit from videoconferencing and other advanced broadband capabilities. The Next Generation Network project also proposes to: Improve health care services by expanding and enhancing broadband capabilities for public health and social services facilities on the islands. Nearly triple the total speed of the microwave system and increase peak load speed between the islands from 2.5 Gbps to 10 Gbps. ORGANIZATION’S HISTORY ____ Island Telephone and Engineering has provided advanced network services to Guam and the Northern Marianas for more than 20 years. The company currently manages a 481-mile network and has a strong track record for serving the region’s broadband needs. Island Telephone and Engineering has successfully completed seven other projects in the region including prepaid cellular service, push-to-talk mobile service, and undersea fiber. The organization works with many economically disadvantaged businesses in Guam and the Northern Marianas. Broadband USA Applications Database
Applicant Name: IT&E Project Title: Next Generation Network - Middle Mile Infrastructure Plan Project Type: Middle Mile _______________________Executive Summary_______________________ IT&E seeks funding to stimulate the demand for broadband services and provide greater access to the communities of Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI). The communities of Guam and the CNMI have felt the impact of receding global economies, creating less ability for people to access and afford broadband services. IT&E can best promote broadband demand and access through Last Mile infrastructure enhancements that add options to how people access broadband internet services. This effort will be in combination with two additional plans, another for Last Mile infrastructure enhancements and one for Adoption. The applications work together to provide more options to underserved communities and support a wider audience of broadband services. The proposed plan will impact the included service areas at various levels including economically disadvantaged communities, education, and health and public agencies. IT&E’s proposed funded service areas include the insular areas of Guam and the CNMI, which represent the Mariana Islands. These islands are located in the Micronesian area of Oceania within the North Pacific Ocean. There are more than thirty communities within Guam (19) and Saipan (21) that will be impacted through the proposed plan. The proposed funded service areas of Guam and Saipan have experienced downturns in their respective economies through multiple factors impacting top industries. Higher than average poverty levels further compound the economic woes of these areas. Based on multiple data sets both Guam and Saipan qualify as Historically Underutilized Business Zones (HUBZones) by the Small Business Administration. Statistics from the 2000 U.S. Census counted these totals for Guam which will all be included in through network coverage: 154,805 Total Population, 38,769 Households, 3,143 Businesses (provided in 2005 Economic Survey), and 224 Institutions. Statistics from the 2000 U.S. Census counted these totals for the CNMI which will all be included in through network coverage: 69,221 Total Population, 14,055 Households, 1,191 Businesses (provided in 2005 Economic Survey), and 81 Institutions. In order to best support the additional options and increased users in Guam and Saipan with broadband services IT&E proposes Middle Mile infrastructure enhancements using 3G and WiMax broadband capabilities in the CNMI and WiMax implementation in Guam. This infrastructure plan, titled the Next Generation Network (NGN) will expand the number of access points for broadband internet without the need to ‘hook-up’ to a landline. The communities of Guam and Saipan will be able to take advantage of a variety of online resources at faster speeds and at supportive price points. Additionally, in order to promote broadband services and demand IT&E will continue to abide by non-discrimination and interconnection obligations as covered within the Network Openness portion of the application. IT&E follows the open standards as described by the FCC including allowing users to utilize the legal internet without hindrance. IT&E was acquired by PTI Pacifica in 2008. Combining operations provided a great chance to serve the markets of Guam and the CNMI, under the consolidated brand of IT&E. IT&E and PTI Pacifica have been long time providers of quality services to the Mariana Islands. IT&E combined to form a premier provider within the region and is an employer of choice. IT&E actively seek out opportunities to keep residents of these insular communities connected. Recently, IT&E collaborated with network providers in more than 230 countries to offer customers a worldwide network for their cellular services. This is a first amongst the service providers within the Marianas. Because of economic declines and lingering uncertainties it can be easy to overlook the opportunities to serve local needs that help people stay connected. IT&E leads initiatives to offer quality services and reinvest in the community through job creation, training programs promoting career development, and key sponsorships to community organizations. IT&E now seeks to leverage this funding opportunity to serve the public. IT&E is ready to implement a targeted plan based on understanding the needs and goals of residents, the experience in providing supportive services, and a proven track record of project coordination matching client needs with solutions. In order to best stimulate demand and provide access to broadband services, inclusive of prepaid services and discount opportunities, IT&E submits a plan to install a Next Generation Network (NGN). IT&E’s three projects total to a cost of nearly $14 Million. IT&E is committed to providing 20% of the overall budget through in-kind contributions. The total budget for Middle Mile Infrastructure enhancements to the NGN is $10,062,991.91. Through the additional options to obtain broadband internet services, supported by 3G and WiMax plans, IT&E projects subscription increases over 200%. Based on the proposed plan to upgrade and offer more services IT&E projects that 500 direct and indirect jobs will be saved and 30 new direct and indirect jobs will be created. A main challenge of increasing use of broadband services is creating demand. IT&E understands this challenge and seeks to overcome this by implementing a wide reaching plan targeting higher usage of broadband services through infrastructure and adoption plans. The parts of the strategy best work in concert to increase access and stimulate demand. |