Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — Three U.S. territories – Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and American Samoa – have finalized plans to close vast Internet coverage gaps under the federal Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment program.

If approved, the plans would be transformational for the Pacific islands, delivering robust, resilient Internet connections to regions where as much as 80 to 100 percent of locations remain underserved.

In American Samoa, BEAD funding would be used to deploy broadband connections to 80 percent, or 7,653 of the territory’s 9,535 total locations. In the Northern Mariana Islands, it would connect every one of the island’s 9,568 locations to hardened, end-to-end fiber, marking the first time the islands would achieve universal broadband coverage.

Each of the territories' proposals underscores the distinct challenges facing island communities in their efforts to expand broadband. Typhoons and earthquakes are constant threats, limited infrastructure hampers progress, and network resiliency takes on new meaning.

Guam’s submission prioritizes hardening networks and new undersea fiber cabling, while the Northern Mariana Islands requires subgrantees to prepare risk management plans for natural disasters. American Samoa, meanwhile, points to geographic isolation and high deployment costs as its biggest barriers to broadband expansion.

American Samoa To Utilize Fiber, Wireless, And Satellites

American Samoa’s final BEAD plan calls for use of its $37 million BEAD allocation to overcome the territory’s persistent connectivity barriers through strategic investments in fiber and fixed wireless, while also supporting workforce development and digital equity initiatives.

“This funding is critical for the Territory, where geographic isolation, high deployment costs, and infrastructure challenges have historically limited broadband availability,” the Office of Broadband Coordination, Opportunities, Development and Deployment said.

Similar to Guam, two terrestrial providers and one satellite provider were selected to deliver universal coverage across the territory’s 17 project-funded areas. 

The American Samoa Telecommunications Authority will lead the largest share of construction, deploying buried fiber to roughly 6,900 locations.

AST Telecom LLC, operating as Bluesky Communications, will extend a fiber and licensed fixed wireless hybrid network to about 300 sites, across five project areas. And, SpaceX’s Starlink service will connect around 430 of the most remote locations.

Together, these projects will connect all 7,653 broadband-serviceable locations and 41 community anchor institutions on the island. 

The three U.S. territories are among the 49 U.S. states and the District of Columbia in publicizing their final BEAD proposals. Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands have not yet released their proposals.

The program’s administrator, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, has yet to approve any plans under its revised rules.