CI$250k contract awarded for sub-sea cable study

| 02/05/2022 | 34 Comments
Cayman News Service
Maya-1 undersea cable

(CNS): Grant Thornton Specialist Services (Cayman) Limited has won the CI$250,000 contract to conduct a formal feasibility study into the modernisation of the Cayman Islands’ submarine cable infrastructure. The study will form the outline business case that will inform the government about whether or not to invest in a third communication cable. The proposal is a carry-over policy from the previous administration that PACT supports, being keen to ensure that Cayman remains well connected to the world.

The consultants were selected following a request for proposals at the end of last year, which officials said had attracted several professional and specialist submarine cable consultancies. It also follows industry and stakeholder consultations that the government said have been carried out over the past eighteen months.

During that consultation period, as the PPM-led administration began preparing the bid for an outline business case, Cable & Wireless, part of the consortium of members that use and operate the existing undersea cables, said plans to sink this third cable were unnecessary.

Paul Kirwan, Director, Consortium Cable Management for Cable & Wireless Networks, which has overseen the operations and management of the two existing sub-sea cables since their inception, implied in July 2020 that the move would be pointless.

“Even if Caymanian consumption were to increase five-fold in the next 10 years, there would not be a capacity concern for the current subsea network,” he said in a press release at the time. “Should the need ever arise to repair a cable, the average time to do so is 15 to 25 days, however, most ISP routing systems are designed and scaled to automatically allow for traffic to be re-routed to the secondary cable route to facilitate repair without any noticeable impact or congestion.”

The construction of a new cable does not yet have a price tag but it’s expected to be a costly exercise, and likely controversial if it is seen as an unnecessary expenditure of public funds. Nevertheless, Infrastructure Minister Jay Ebanks said the government aims to transform the international connectivity of the islands.

“We are bringing in world class experts to help analyse the options and identify the best approach to take in regard to this major infrastructure project,” he said. “This initiative forms a key pillar of our strategy to ensure the Cayman Islands benefit from world class connectivity in order to underpin a transformation of our economy and society into a thriving digital future,” Ebanks added.

Partner and Head of Public Services at Grant Thornton, Will McWilliams, said the specialist submarine cable expertise of Pioneer Consulting were part of team that would be conducting the study. “We are very much looking forward to working together on this crucial initiative,” he said.


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Category: Business, utilities

Comments (34)

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  1. Anonymous says:

    The internet in Cayman is shocking, this assessment will be of crucial importance to the Island as a whole in terms of our future which is going to rely on technology and digital assets. Education, medical, hospitality, insurance, DVDL, infrastructure etc etc (I could go on) – are all reliant upon fast changing technology advancements. We need to be ready Cayman to move with the times.

    For too long have the sharks at C&W charged us ridiculous prices for poor service and rubbish internet speeds. Selling to us promised ultra fast 200mbps speeds, when on any given day you do a speed check you’re lucky to be getting half that – it’s called daylight robbery.

    I wholly hope this project is a huge success as it will transform Cayman onto another level instead of us going back into the stone ages. When Tongo had their recent Earthquake it severed their submarine cable – they had no internet for 6-8 weeks. We are so vulnerable as a nation.

    Everyone of us surely wants cheaper faster internet especially where gas, electric are all escalating out of control, let’s stop moaning for once about CIG contracts (some of them are pointless for sure) as this is one we should all be keen to see how it plays out.

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    • Anonymous says:

      Why on earth do you imagine this project, if it ever happens, will stop Cayman’s ISPs ripping us off? It won’t. The opposite if anything to pay for it!

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  2. Anonymous says:

    …and then we will have another $250k contract to study what the other study did. I will tell you, when someone is connected to politicians money goes two ways and even multiple ways no questions ask.

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  3. Anonymous says:

    Would be cheaper to go underneath Cuba. (That’ll be $250K please, put it in my Senegalese account).

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  4. Just saying says:

    My internet is fine. You know what’s not fine? Our education system and DCFS.

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  5. Anonymous says:

    Lol. Cable & Wutless can’t even keep their landlines up on the poles.

    #WorldClass

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    • Anonymous says:

      Comment of the day LOL

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    • Anonymous says:

      Careless and Worthless is just mad that their various monopolies are coming closer to an end, but they own most of the infrastructure in place, so it’s not the biggest loss overall.

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  6. Anonymous says:

    We are entering hurricane season and we can’t get our radar fixed but we can find $250k to pay for this study.
    We can never seem to get our priorities straight and PACT continues to spend money like the economic bump from real estate sales will continue.
    Meanwhile Minister Jay can’t even finish the housing project but what better way to deflect from that scandal than to divert attention?
    I read that Premier Panton wanted development under his wing but it would appear he had to appease others.
    Premier Panton will have a hard time meeting his goals and the lower to middle class Caymanians will suffer.
    Can we please have a reshuffling of the portfolios and remove planning from Jay Ebanks and assign to the Premier.

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  7. Anonymous says:

    Is OfReg involved? If so it’ll never materialize!

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  8. Starman says:

    Cayman needs to sign contracts with Starlink from Elon Musk’s Spacex. It’s already accessible in the U.K. undersea cables will be backup. No need waste any money on this now old tech. Get with it Cayman!

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    • Anonymous says:

      Yes, 70,000 hurricane projectile satellite dishes slung over balcony railings. $1000 fixed cost, then $159/mo forever. Still not as fast as cable.

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      • Anonymous says:

        LOL, which rip off cable company do you work for?

        Starlink is $599 for the dish, CI$91/m for 50-250Mbps so cheaper and faster than Logic CI$129/m for 50/100Mbps.

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      • Anonymous says:

        Would work during a hurricane if you had a generator. Suggest you bring the portable dish inside as replacements that flew away would likely be delayed.

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    • Anonymous says:

      1. For now, there’s no coverage in Cayman: https://satellitemap.space/?norad=48119

      2. Latency was initially so high that SpaceX sought permission from FCC to dramatically reduce altitude. Fastest speeds are at higher altitudes >10,000ft in the 300mbps range, when it’s working, which is certainly fast, but not necessarily future-proof fast.

      3. Just because an ego maniac is involved in a project, doesn’t make it a good idea or necessarily destined for success. From 2017 to 2019, Tesla was running about one month away from bankruptcy, one of several near bankruptcy periods for that company.

      4., The array is flying at a degrading low Earth orbit, vulnerable to solar flares, and to enemy satellite kinetic energy momentum weapons, like the Russian test that scattered satellite debris and nearly took out the ISS last year.

      5. The expensive preprogrammed non-transferable dish has to be mounted and calibrated perfectly. Also a projectile risk in high winds.

      Maybe it’ll get better as the array expands. Too early.

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      • Anonymous says:

        5. Well they’ve managed to mount and calibrate one in the Azovstal steel works in Mariupol under near constant Russian artillery barrage for the last 2 months so I don’t think it’s as difficult as you imagine.

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      • Anonymous says:

        That’s what they said about S1 18 too but it came through clear as day all the same on a 40ft dish.

    • Anonymous says:

      I’m all for starlink but why does Cayman need to sign anything with starlink? It doesn’t work like that. You want starlink, you sign up for it, you plug the dish in, done. Nothing to do with Cayman.

  9. Anonymous says:

    I could have told you it’s a bad idea for free. But you need a $250K study to help you understand how best to waste another $20 million. I guess a farm in North Side has already been selected as the site where the cable will come ashore.
    I wonder if UK can Direct rule BVI and Cayman at the same time?

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  10. Anonymous says:

    Does nobody think of the fishies?

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  11. Anonymous says:

    To be filed next to the Cruise Tourism Plan, Traffic Study(s), dump ReGen Proposal and Solar Plan. Looking forward to the new File Storage Building Study next.

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