Following months of discussions between American Samoa and Samoan officials, the U.S. territory's Telecommunications Authority and Samoa's Ministry of Communication and Information Technology have signed an agreement.

The American Samoa Telecommunications Authority (ASTCA) and the Communication and Information Technology of the Samoan Government released a joint statement on Tuesday to advise of the signing of the Telecom agreement, which both entities say comes after months of collaboration and many work sessions.

The discussions between the two sides were done under the leadership of ASTCA Chief Executive, Falelimu Chuck Leota, and Samoa's Minister of Communication and Information Technology, Toelupe Poumulinuku Onesemo.

Under the terms of the MOU that was signed on 9 December 2022, whose details were unveiled in the joint statement issued on Tuesday, American Samoa and Samoa have agreed by principle in "supporting initiatives that ensure our engineering and broadband challenges meet the needs of our people competing in the new global digital economy."

The joint statement stated that the programs of the MOU are to foster and assure optimum mutual development in a framework for joint efforts in broadband infrastructure, telecommunications, local engineering capacity, and network resilience.

"The tangible benefits and spirit of the MOU will be in the economic, social, and digital equity areas of American Samoa and Samoa for staying connected and relevant in the new digital economy," reads the joint statement.

"The means facilitating infrastructure and affordability under digital equity will be contained by the government, not profit, for a proposed submarine fiber cable to ensure and maximize the delivery of digital equity to all people of the Samoan Archipelago, both East and West."

The focus areas of the signed MOU include the deployment of a submarine cable, which would see the American Samoa island of Tutuila and the Samoa island of Upolu getting connected, to secure the necessary redundancy of the main submarine cable connecting American Samoa to the U.S. mainland.

As for Samoa, this would mean the cable bringing increased, higher-quality capacity to the country and substantially decrease costs of service for the country and lead to the improving of digital equity for its citizens.

Part of the MOU would also see the formulation of a microwave backhaul solution between Tutuila and Upolu for additional emergency telecom and broadband redundancy, as well as capacity sharing and training in knowledge, resources, and emergency inventories.

The ASTCA Chief Executive Officer described the signing of the MOU as exciting times for the two neighbours.

“The Lemanu & Talauega Administration have made their goals clear — digital equity should be a reality for all American Samoans, without exception," said Mr. Leota. 

"Every resident of American Samoa must have affordable and high-speed access to online information, from education to healthcare, and the tools necessary to fully participate in modern democracy and the new digital economy without having to leave American Samoa. 

“The administration also wants to make sure that ASTCA helps our aiga (family) in Samoa with our excess broadband capacity from the Hawaiki cable, thereby assisting the new FAST government in their efforts to close Samoa’s digital divide and thereby assist their leaders in delivering digital equity to their citizens.”

Speaking on behalf of the Samoa Government, Toelupe said Samoa and American Samoa should be well connected by the latest telecommunication means and leverage their geographic proximity to their shared advantage. 

"Working together, we can better accelerate access and the adoption rate of tools and resources needed for our people to participate in the new digital global economy and build resilience for climate change and natural disasters," said the Minister. 

“Building human resources capacity for a well-educated digital society for all to succeed must be achieved. In working together, our people can benefit from each other’s strengths and achieve a timelier digital transformation by addressing many of our social-economic concerns for society, business, and government.”

In closing, Mr. Leota says, “From a policy perspective and in practical application, ASTCA and MCIT want the same thing — raise the standard of living and quality of life for our people by ensuring that they not just participate but thrive in the new global digital economy. With the Honorable Ministers’ support, I am confident ASTCA and MCIT can lead and deliver solutions for our people to succeed.”