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Internet provider in American Samoa says costs should be lowered

A broadband provider for American Samoa says internet costs in the territory could be lowered if more subscribers are hooked onto the undersea fiber optic cable that links American Samoa and Samoa to Hawaii.

Representatives of the non-profit organization One Economy, contracted to draw up the broadband map for American Samoa, says one of the reasons why rates are so high is the marine cable cuts off in the Samoas and does not extend anywhere else.

The company’s Director of Information Programs, Daniel Calarco says Guam is enjoying much faster and cheaper internet service because subscribers in other countries are linked to their fiber optic cable.

“Guam is at the intersection of lots of different cables. So cables going from China to the US are going through Guam. Going from Japan to Hawaii are going through Guam. And as a result of that Guam has this incredible connection capacity. They have a huge amount of internet pipe going through them. And the reason why the cost their is so low is because essentially the don’t have to foot the bill for most of it.”

Daniel Calarco says while Guam free-rides off the billions of subscribers from these countries who are paying for the internet connection, American Samoans are having to pay full price.