A major international telecoms company is seeking permission to connect a new sub-sea fibre-optic cable from the US to the Cayman Islands.
The proposed project, provisionally named the Cayman Express, would help bring higher speed internet and increased competition on prices to the islands, according to application documents seen by the Cayman Compass.
Experts say the project would be an important step towards the goal of ‘faster, cheaper, better’ internet for Cayman. Broadband internet costs in Cayman are currently among the highest in the world.
A system of sub-sea cables, criss-crossing the ocean floor for thousands of miles, is the network through which data travels around the globe. Everything from Netflix shows to WhatsApp messaging services and Zoom meetings are routed to Cayman via this data highway.
Seaborn Networks, which already owns and operates cables between Florida and Brazil, is behind the new application.
It is not clear at this point if its plans, which include a link from Sarasota to both Grand Cayman and Cayman Brac, are intended as a standalone project or as part of a wider regional network.
The need for a third sub-sea cable into the Cayman Islands to supplement the MAYA-1 link from the US and the Liberty cable from Jamaica has been identified as a priority by government, which allocated $30 million towards an exploratory project in the last budget.
A ‘feasibility study’ was commissioned earlier this year, with Minister Jay Ebanks describing the infrastructure project as key to ensuring ‘world class connectivity’ for the islands’ economy.
Seaborn’s application is completely independent of government’s process.
If approved, it could eliminate the need for public funds to be spent on a complex project that could cost as much as $100 million.
Seaborn and its investors would cover the expense of building and maintaining the cable and local telecoms providers would pay them for capacity.
Currently, Cayman’s four internet providers – Digicel, Flow, Logic and C3 – all use the MAYA-1 cable, which is part-owned by Flow’s parent company Cable and Wireless. They also have capacity on the older cable from Jamaica.
In documents submitted with its application to OfReg, Seaborn claims that both systems are approaching end of life.
Limited competition
It states that Cayman has a “non-competitive market” with “two older systems” leading to high prices on island.
The business case for the project states that “limited competition in sub-sea cables and COVID-19” had triggered the Cayman Islands government to explore ways of improving internet costs, speed and accessibility.
“The pandemic demonstrated the need to transition to a digital economy to improve people’s lives and the ease of doing business,” it states.
As well as providing ‘disruptive pricing’, the business case states the Cayman Express cable would provide a ‘direct link’ to the US and loop Cayman Brac into a high-speed fibre network.
The addition of a new sub-sea cable would also create redundancy in the islands’ telecoms infrastructure, meaning high-speed internet access could be maintained even through an outage on one of the cables.
Bob Taylor, a tech entrepreneur and the former CEO of WestStar in Cayman, said an additional subsea cable is critical to the islands’ economy. But he said legislation and regulations should accompany the development to ensure it becomes a win-win for businesses and customers.
“Cayman needs a project like this,” he said.
“It should lead to more competition, better pricing, higher internet speeds and better reliability.”
Sonji Myles, executive director of information and communications technology at OfReg, said the application is currently being reviewed by the regulator.
He said an additional cable could provide redundancy in Cayman’s telecoms network, as well as competition that could lead to lower consumer prices.
Speaking generally, he said, a third telecoms cable could support Cayman’s economic growth, making it a more attractive destination for businesses that depend on fast and reliable data connections.
“If the financial sector, the med-tech sector, the ICT sector is trying to grow, there’s an argument for increasing and diversifying capacity.”
Seaborn is a Massachusetts-based company that operates more than 250,000km of sub-sea cable, according to its website. Caymanian lawyer and former MP Winston Connolly is listed as a consultant on the Cayman project in documents submitted with the application.
Flow has disputed the need for a new cable, as well as characterisation of MAYA-1 as approaching the ‘end of life’.
It claims there is enough capacity on the cable to meet all Cayman’s data needs and that prices of local telecoms providers are competitive.
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It sounds like a no brainer. Also why would the government spend 30M on a study to say that a new cable paid for not by them should be built