The CNMI government recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with tech giant Google to enhance the Commonwealth’s internet connectivity, with the rest of the world.
Glenn Hunter, NMI’s Special Assistant for Broadband Policy and Development Office, said the signed agreement is for the development of a Core Node in the CNMI and the landing of at least four transpacific subsea fiber optic cables.
The Google-funded project, with contributions from the CNMI, will establish a secure and high-speed network to connect all the NMI islands in the Pacific.
“Once this Google project comes to fruition, having direct transpacific fiber optic cable landing in the CNMI, that will connect the CNMI for the first time in the world, to the backbone of the internet, without any being reliant to any other state or territory for our connectivity… We can now have a robust proper foundation for a digital economy to grow,” Hunter said.
The CNMI received more than $90 million in federal funding for this partnership with Google.
