Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — Hawiki submarine cable sets the foundation for American Samoa’s future with improved services in areas such as education, telemedicine and e-commerce, proving new job opportunities for the territory, says Taiulagi Asuega, vice chair of the American Samoa TeleCommunications Authority (ASTCA).

Asuega spoke on behalf of the ASTCA board, during last Thursday’s official launch of the American Samoa branching unit of the Hawaiki cable system. The branching system is owned by ASTCA at the cost of $29 million that went live just before 10:30a.m.this past Thursday.

Activation of the cable system is a “historic and significant event,” said Asuega during the ceremony at the American Samoa Community College Multi Purpose Center.

She told the audience, which included Gov. Lolo Matalasi Moliga, Lt. Gov. Lemanu Palepoi Sialega Mauga and House Speaker Savali Talavou Ale, that once the cable system is turned on, “American Samoa will be one of the most connected territories in the entire Pacific Region as we are part of the Hawaiki Cable System.”

Asuega recalled that it was on Apr. 21 this year that American Samoa witnessed the landing of Hawiki cable off Fogagogo and “our beloved” ASTCA chief executive officer, Pulele’iite Tufele Liamatua, who passed away last month, “was so excited that day in showcasing what has been a ‘Dream Come True’.”

Pulele’iite “was excited planning for today’s historic event, saying terms such as ‘fiber activation, video teleconference demonstration, telemedicine, tele-health, e-commerce, distance learning, and transforming our local economy through the use of technology’,” she pointed out.

With her voice quivering, she stopped for a few seconds holding back tears, then continued, “Our ASTCA family of employees believe that Pule’s spirit is here as we can imagine his laughter and his usual calm assurance voice that things will be okay.” (Pule — used by many as a shortened name for Pulele’iite)

She noted that people made “this dream come true.” Among them is the governor, whom Asuega thanked “for your vision in supporting” the previous ASTCA board six years ago, “with the idea of diversifying our economy through the use of telecommunication and technology.”

She expressed sincere appreciation to Hawaiki president and chief executive officer Remi Galasso, “for being a true partner and extending the invitation to American Samoa to connect to your submarine fiber infrastructure.”

(Galasso was in Switzerland, and later he addressed the audience in the Launching Ceremony via a televideo conferencing call.)

To the Retirement Fund board of trustees, “ASTCA would not be here without your financial support and this is your project as well as ours,” Asuega said, noting that ASTCA and the Retirement Fund are owned by ASG, “and therefore we owe it to the people of American Samoa to work together and find ways to apply our bandwidth connectivity to yield a return on investment.”

She declared that the “brand-new State of the Art Submarine Cable will benefit all persons of American Samoa. We have a chance to control our own destiny and transform our economy.  This will be a key to our future and our children’s future.”

She thanked the Fono and its leadership for their support, saying, “You can expect that ASTCA can design your new building to have the latest technology of video teleconferencing capability so you can be connected to any Representative or Senator in the world.”

To the Judicial branch, Asuega explained that the court system will greatly benefit with real time access to legal case law and various training through the high speed internet through Hawaiki.

According to the ASTCA vice chair, the Hawaiki Cable with the fiber-to-the-home BLAST project will position American Samoa to be “connected throughout the world in order to develop opportunities to transform our economy through technology.”

(The Broadband Linking the America Samoa Territory — BLAST — project was funded by the federal government and was completed not long ago.)