By FSM Government
A delegation from the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) Department of Transportation, Communication, and Infrastructure (TC&I), has recently completed a visit to the States of Yap, Chuuk, and Kosrae.  There they conducted a series of meetings with the state leaderships, as well as members of the private sectors and non-government organizations in the community, on a wide range of priority issues facing the Department.
An issue that attracted enormous attention in all the three states is the Submarine Fiber Optic Cable (SFOC) project, possibly because the three States of Yap, Kosrae, and Chuuk are not included in the current project driven by the FSM Telecommunication Corporation to link up Pohnpei to the submarine cable system connecting Kwajalein and Guam. This main cable system was put into place for the use of the US Defense Department. Upon the request of the governments of the FSM and the RMI, a second fiber was placed in the cable – separate from the one for the US military – for the use of the two Micronesian countries. It is projected that Pohnpei will acquire broadband connectivity when the fiber optic project goes into effect in March 2010.
Shortly upon assuming office, President Emanuel Mori issued a memo (dated May 29, 2007) establishing a top priority of his Administration that all of the four FSM states, not just one, should have access to broadband connectivity. Seeing broadband connectivity as a backbone for socio-economic development in terms of distant education, telemedicine, and e-health, among other applications, President Mori declared that no state should be denied the benefits of broadband connectivity through fiber optics.
The three states were also briefed on the proposed legislation that was re-transmitted to the FSM Congress for further action relating to the FSM Telecommunication Corporation (FSMTC). The primary intent of the bill was to ensure that FSMTC, a public corporation, is managed on the basis of the principles of transparency and accountability and a regulatory function be administered by the Department of TC&I as the responsible department for oversight functions. Representatives of and advisors to the Department's Division of Communication pointed out several instances where transparency and accountability were gravely lacking or overlooked. During the presentations on the proposed Bill with the FSM Congress to amend the current FSMTC Law, all three states' leadership, after some important clarifications on the rationale behind the Bill and its intent, underscored their full support of the Bill and requested the FSM Congress to take immediate steps to pass this piece of legislation.
The state visits were coordinated with the FSM Congress and a delegation comprised of members of the FSM Congress travelled to the three states at the same time as the DTC&I delegation to conduct hearings on the above Bill. It has come to be known as the “Telecom Bill” as well as other matters. The Congressional delegation consisted of Chairman Joseph Urusemal and Chairman Paliknoa Welley. They were joined by other FSM Congress members that were in the states at the time of these meetings.
Prior to the presentation and discussion on the subjects of the SFOC and the Telecom Bill, a one-page survey was handed out to the participants in the meetings, who were asked to indicate their views on various aspects of the SFOC and the management of telecommunication services by the FSM Telecom. Those who completed the survey include state leaders such as the governors, lieutenant governors, presiding officers and members of the state legislatures, members of the executive branch cabinet members, members of the state chamber of commerce and many other who participated in the meeting. The General Managers of FSM Telecommunications Corporation in the three States were also invited to the meeting and completed the survey. The Board members of FSMTC in Yap and Kosrae also attended the meeting and completed the survey. The survey data was tabulated by the DTC&I Communications Team and verified by a team at the University of Hawai'i.
According to the survey results, an overwhelming majority of the leaders in the three states believe that telecommunications is important for the economic and social development of the states. Their responses showed that while FSMTC is providing acceptable residential telephone and long distance services, the FSMTC is not providing acceptable levels of mobile and other telecommunications services. The leaders and others who completed the survey also said that the FSM should not continue the monopoly in telecommunication services and that other companies should be allowed to provide telecommunication services in the FSM. The leaders did say that they would “pay a little more for services if they were better.” Only 30% of the leaders and others who completed the survey felt that their state would benefit “immensely” when the submarine fiber optics is operational in Pohnpei.
