‘We Did Not Compromise’: Northern Mariana Islands Advances Fully Underground Fiber Buildout

May 15, 2026 – The Northern Mariana Islands formalized Wednesday plans to build a fully underground, climate-hardened end-to-end fiber optic network to reach every resident, business and community anchor institution in the Commonwealth.

“Today is not ceremonial,” Glen Hunter , special assistant for the Broadband Policy and Development Office, remarked at the signing ceremony. “What we are signing today is about recovery, resilience and rebuilding in a way that finally breaks a cycle we all know too well.”

The project is funded through the federal Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program, part of the bipartisan infrastructure law designed to expand high-speed internet access nationwide.

Hunter said preserving the project’s resiliency standards became one of the most difficult parts of the planning process.

“We faced repeated pressure to scale back how hardened this network should be. We did not compromise. Federal dollars must be used wisely, and in the CNMI that means building infrastructure designed to last. Anything less would fail the people we serve,” Hunter said.

According to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, the CNMI is currently classified as 100 percent unserved because no provider offers internet speeds meeting the federal benchmark of 100 megabits per second (Mbps) download and 20 Mbps upload.

IT&E CNMI, operating as Micronesian Telecommunications Corporation, was selected as the territory’s primary BEAD subgrantee and will oversee the full network buildout.

The project commits more than $31 million in federal BEAD funds to the four-year project. IT&E is matching that investment with nearly $22 million in private capital, more than 40 percent of total project cost.

David Gibson , IT&E CEO, said the project represents the largest capital investment the company has made, including in its home market of Guam.

“While the timing is difficult right now for folks on the island, I think it does reinforce the fact that this is what’s right,” Gibson said. “It’s not only right for the people here, but it’s going to be right for future generations.”

Officials said burying the fiber infrastructure underground is intended to improve resiliency against severe storms and reduce future service disruptions across the territory.