IT&E Signs $53 Million BEAD Deal to Build Underground Fiber to Every Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands Home

The Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands took a major step toward closing its digital divide as Governor David Apatang, the Broadband Policy and Development Office, and IT&E signed the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment subgrant agreement at the governor’s office on Capitol Hill. The agreement commits more than $31 million in federal BEAD funds to a four-year project that will build a 100 percent underground, climate-hardened end-to-end fiber optic network reaching every home, business and community anchor institution in the Commonwealth. IT&E is matching that investment with nearly $22 million in private capital, more than 40 percent of total project cost and well beyond the statutory minimum. Glen Hunter, special assistant for the BPD, said the CNMI was at zero percent true broadband coverage when the BPD was created. The office secured a historic BEAD allocation of nearly $81 million from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration. This agreement obligates the first portion of those funds. Hunter said BPD faced repeated pressure to scale back resiliency requirements during the procurement process and refused. He said federal dollars must be spent on infrastructure designed to last.