FEBRUARY 5, 2009 -- The Federated States of Micronesia Telecommunications Company (FSMTC) and the Marshall Islands Telecommunications Authority (MINTA) have entered into contracts with Tyco Telecommunications (search for Tyco Telecommunications), a business unit of Tyco Electronics, for the deployment of extensions to the HANTRU1 Cable System currently under construction between Kwajalein, Republic of the Marshall Islands, and Guam in the western equatorial Pacific.
The extensions will provide high-bandwidth connectivity between both island nations and the rest of the world via undersea fiber-optic links.
"Connecting to the global fiber-optic network promises to be nothing short of transformational for an isolated country such as the Marshall Islands," explains Tony Muller, President of MINTA. "The HANTRU1 extension we are deploying with Tyco Telecommunications is essential to our nation's development and will enable us to provide services to our customers that we only previously imagined."
The extensions to both Pohnpei and Majuro will be comprised of single fiber pair segments from optical add/drop multiplexing (OADM) branching units serving a dedicated fiber pair on the HANTRU1 trunk. When integrated into HANTRU1, each island extension will have direct connectivity back to Guam. The dedicated Micronesian fiber pair will have an ultimate capacity to transmit 16 10-Gigabit wavelengths. Because Guam is a regional node, FSM and MINTA will have a variety of onward connectivity options.
HANTRU1 is owned by Hannon Armstrong Capital, LLC and operated by Truestone, LLC. The Micronesian extensions are being financed through the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Utilities Service, Telecommunications Loan Program.
"We are thrilled to begin construction of this long awaited project," reports Takuro Akinaga, chief executive officer of FSMTC. "With this connectivity, we will be able to provide the people of the Federated States of Micronesia with the same telecommunications access and services available in the great capitals of the world. We are grateful to the many stakeholders who have worked so hard over many years to make this project a reality."
"Tyco Telecommunications is pleased to provide the final pieces to this complex puzzle that is HANTRU1 and the Micronesian extensions," adds Rob Munier, managing director for global solutions at Tyco Telecommunications. "We will be deploying the most advanced undersea technology as part of a network that will serve governments and commercial customers in this remote but growing part of the world for many years to come."
Tyco Telecommunications expects to deliver the extensions in Spring 2010.
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