A Cayman Islands official shared last week that the British Overseas Territory requires a new subsea telecom cable. BNAmericas reported that three islands — Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac, and Little Cayman — are connected internationally via two submarine cables: CJFS (circa 1997) and MAYA-1 (circa 2000).
According to a case study prepared by Grant Thornton and Pioneer Consulting, “Both systems are aging, and the Cayman Islands Government (CIG) has no certainty or control with regard to the future of either of the existing cables. The CIG considers subsea cables critical national infrastructure, and the lack of certainty about their future introduces various risks to the islands, and represents a threat to the islands’ future.”
The CJFS cable connects Grand Cayman and Cayman Brac to Jamaica, and the MAYA-1 cable connects Half Moon Bay on Grand Cayman with Mexico, Honduras, Costa Rica, Panama, and Colombia. The case study encourages CIG to establish a wholly government-owned company as the cable client. BNAmericas reported that the case study lacks details, timelines, and costs associated with a new subsea cable project.
BNAmericas reported a private sector project planned to connect the Cayman Islands with submarine cable Aurora, but the last project update occurred in 2022. Aurora is meant to connect the U.S. with Ecuador, with landing points in Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, Panama, the Cayman Islands, and Colombia.
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