Residents of the Northern Mariana Islands have up to Aug. 23 to review the final proposal for the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment Program.
“This milestone moves the NMI significantly closer to closing its digital divide and delivering affordable, high-speed internet to unserved and underserved communities,” NMI Broadband Policy & Development Office officials said in a press release. Under the late Gov. Arnold I. Palacios, the government created the Broadband Bootcamp, the NMI’s effort to ensure NMI residents have the training and education needed to take advantage of the opportunities anticipated with the growing telecom industry. This summer, 229 NMI residents who were among four cohorts on Saipan completed the 19-week Governor’s Broadband Bootcamp Program provided through the Northern Marianas College.
The program was facilitated through a partnership between the Office of the Governor’s Broadband Policy and Development Program, Northern Marianas College - Center for Training and Innovation, NMTech, Island Training Solutions, and the CNMI Department of Labor. Participants gained hands-on experience in fiber optic installation, broadband infrastructure, and trenching. They enhanced essential career skills, including time management, emotional intelligence, customer service excellence, and navigating Microsoft Excel. Soon after the program completion, regional telecom company IT&E announced they are hiring for various positions in Guam, including construction technician, fiber technician, and heavy equipment operator.
The NMI was awarded about $80 million through BEAD to expand high-speed internet access to residents and businesses. It’s part of a national $42.45 billion federally funded program authorized by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021. The NTIA administers the program, which focuses on broadband planning, deployment, mapping, equity, and adoption activities, prioritizing unserved and underserved locations. (See story Connecting the Pacific: Rewiring for a digital future).
Residents and business managers can review the proposal and submit their comments to cnmi.bpd@gmail.com. Officials said the community’s input is “essential in shaping broadband investments that meet the needs of our islands.” The draft NMI is available on bdp.cnmi.gov.
Comments will be added to a report to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration. Once the NTIA approves the final proposal the NMI Broadband Office will execute formal subgrant agreements with the official subgrant awardees. Under BEAD requirements, all funded networks must be deployed and providing service within four years from the date of the subgrant agreement.
The week-long public comment period follows a successful benefit-of-the-bargain round, which was required by the federal government on June 6. Under the Trump administration there was a renewed effort to speed up the project and ensure no particular technology was preferred over another. The requirement aims to ensure high-impact broadband projects are delivered at the lowest possible cost to the program by removing burdensome regulations, promoting technology neutrality, and creating a level playing field for all applicants. This policy aims to speed up infrastructure deployment and lower costs for taxpayers and consumers by allowing states to focus on technology-agnostic competition and scalability, rather than specific technological or regulatory preferences.
The NMI received multiple subgrant applications for each of its 21 project funding areas, referred to by the acronym PFAs, covering a variety of broadband technologies, including fiber-optic, cable modem/hybrid fibercoaxial, low earth orbit – or LEO - satellite, and terrestrial fixed wireless. In alignment with the restructuring policy notice, Broadband Office identified projects that met the definition of a Priority Broadband Project, which are networks capable of delivering high-speed, low-latency service that are scalable to future demands.
For all 21 PFAs, at least three applications met this standard. Using the updated scoring rubric, the NMI Broadband Office selected preliminary awardees based on the lowest funding request, maximizing cost efficiency while maintaining quality service.
In addition, the NMI Broadband Office held a successful special award condition meeting with the NTIA — a required step of the BEAD award process. Following this review, NTIA has provisionally awarded subgrants for broadband deployment projects across Saipan, Tinian, and Rota. mbj
