SAIPAN — Approximately 95% of Saipan is back online with 5G and LTE coverage following Super Typhoon Sinlaku, IT&E CEO David Gibson said Tuesday during a live interview on Good Morning Marianas.
Gibson appeared as the first in-studio guest at the show’s home studio since the storm. Good Morning Marianas resumed broadcasting from its primary location Tuesday after Commonwealth Utilities Corporation crews restored grid power to the building Monday.
“We really didn’t lose a tremendous amount of sites. It was mostly power-related,” Gibson said. “We have a couple sites that we’re rebuilding, but we have temporary solutions up.”
Gibson said IT&E lost its Lower Base tower in the storm and is preparing to install a spare tower at the site while operating a temporary solution there. The company has two sites down on Tinian, including its airport site, where coordination with the Port Authority and Federal Aviation Administration is required to reset a pole that did not belong to IT&E.
The company’s underground fiber network sustained no damage, Gibson said. Tower restoration has required three phases: confirming structural integrity, restoring power, and recalibrating panels and carriers across LTE, 5G and other spectrum.
Gibson credited FEMA for assistance with a backup generator in Tinian after a primary generator failed at the company’s central office. He also credited the Federal Communications Commission daily outage reporting requirement and ongoing coordination with the governor’s office, CNMI Homeland Security and Emergency Management, CUC and Guam Power Authority.
BEAD FIBER GRANT SIGNING WEDNESDAY
IT&E will sign the multimillion-dollar federal Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment grant with the governor’s office Wednesday morning, kicking off what Gibson called the largest single project undertaking in IT&E history. The grant funds the build-out of buried fiber to every household in the Commonwealth.
“Wednesday morning we sign off, and Wednesday afternoon we start procuring fiber and materials and start coordinating getting those things on the island,” Gibson said. Construction could begin in some areas as early as the summer, he said, though the longest portion of the project is the fiber build itself.
GOOGLE CABLE LANDING STATION
IT&E is helping build the Google subsea cable landing station on Tinian, slated for next year. Gibson said the landing station will be built with multiple layers of backup power, including redundant generators and a solar component, similar to IT&E’s Guam Exchange data center.
“Power is the most important thing,” Gibson said, adding that he hopes the recovery brings federal resources that not only restore but harden and modernize CNMI power infrastructure. “If you’re in manufacturing, stable power is critical. It’s absolutely critical, especially when you’re running 24 hours a day.”
CUSTOMER OUTREACH AND POP-UP STORE
IT&E is operating a pop-up tent at the Survivor Recovery Center at the Multipurpose Center in Susupe, open from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. for tech support, bill payments, sign-ups and questions.
A free charging station and tent for customers and non-customers is set up at the company’s Oleai store. Gibson said the recovery ideas have come primarily from IT&E employees responding to what the community needs.