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NEXT cable to operate in U.S. in competition with ASH and Hawaiki cables

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FCC approves application
reporters@samoanews.com

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — The US Federal Communications Commission has given the green light to the owners of Southern Cross NEXT to land and operate within the U.S. a private fiber optic submarine cable network connecting Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Samoa, Tokelau, Kiribati, and California.

Pacific Carriage Limited Inc. (PCLI) and Southern Cross Cables Limited (SCCL) — the applicants — claimed in its application filed last summer that Southern Cross NEXT will not only “enhance competition” but will “vigorously” compete with other cable systems, such as American Samoa Hawaii cable (ASH-Cable) and Hawaiki cable, on the US-South Pacific routes.

Samoa News notes ASH Cable is 33% owned by ASG and the American Samoa TeleCommunications Authority owns and operates the American Samoa branching link of the Hawaiki cable.

As previously reported by Samoa New the applicants informed FCC that is intends to commence commercial operation in the fourth calendar quarter of 2021 and they were seeking a timely granting of licensing no later than September 2020 in order to permit construction activities to proceed on schedule.  (See Samoa News edition Dec. 12, 2019.)

FCC in a public statement last Thursday announced approval for Southern Cross NEXT, following a thorough review, which includes those carried out by the US departments of State, Defense, and Homeland Security.

The owners also submitted early this month the “Letter of Assurances” of being in compliance with federal regulations and requirements upon approval of the US license.

According to the owners and FCC, the cable system will have four to six branches and land in eight locations. One of the landing stations will be in Apia, which is owned and controlled by Samoa Submarine Cable Company Limited. And the Apia Branch will connect a branching unit on the U.S.-Australia trunk.

FCC said the applicants propose to operate Southern Cross NEXT “on a non-common carrier basis”. The applicants intend to sell bulk capacity to particular carriers, enterprises, and Internet content customers pursuant to individually-negotiated IRUs and capacity leases, the terms of which, applicants assert, will vary depending on the characteristics and needs of the particular capacity purchaser.

The applicants had argued that the existence of competing facilities providing connectivity on the relevant U.S.-South Pacific routes wouldl ensure that Southern Cross NEXT would not function as a bottleneck facility on those routes.