Telecommunications in American Samoa

This article is about communications systems in American Samoa.

In 2009, American Samoa was connected to the Internet using the American Samoa Hawaii Cable (ASH) undersea cable that increased bandwidth from 20 Mbit/s to 1 Gbit/s.[1][2] The project used a defunct PacRim East cable built in 1993 that previously connected Hawaii with New Zealand. The cable system now connects Samoa to American Samoa and then to Hawaii where it will connect to global submarine networks. In July 2018, the Hawaiki cable[3] was activated[4] with a branch providing a 200Gb/s[5] connection from Pago Pago to Hawaii, New Zealand, Australia, and Oregon.

Telephone

Main lines in use: 10,400 (2004)
country comparison to the world: 202

Mobile cellular: 2,200 (2004)
country comparison to the world: 210

Telephone system:
domestic: good telex, telegraph, facsimile and cellular telephone services; domestic satellite system with 1 Comsat earth station
international: satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Pacific Ocean)
international access code: +1.684 (in the North American Numbering Plan, Area code 684)

Radio

Radio broadcast stations: AM 0, FM 4 commercial, 4 non-commercial, 2 LPFM, shortwave 0 (2005)

Radios: 57,000 (1997)

Television

Television broadcast stations: 4 (2006) Televisions: 14,000 (1997)

See List of television stations in American Samoa.

Internet

Internet Service Providers (ISPs): at least three[6]

Internet country code: .as

Internet Hosts: 1,923 (2008)
country comparison to the world: 141

Internet users: NA

Situation in 2016

In 2012 American Samoa had the most expensive internet in the U.S. according to Engadget.[7]

Under Governor Togiola Tulafono investment in a fibre optic network to replace aging copper infrastructure across all the islands of American Samoa[8] and the construction in 2015 of a 1.2Gbit/s satellite uplink via O3b Networks which more than doubled available bandwidth to the rest of the world[9] resulted in broadband internet becoming more affordable, with the price of the cheapest available residential package decreasing from $75/month to $50/month and download speeds of the base package increasing from 256kbit/s to 768kbit/s.[10] The improved connectivity to the outside world has revived previously stalled hopes that a call center could be opened in American Samoa, boosting the local economy.[11]

ASTCA Telecommunications Building

The ASTCA Telecommunications Building (also known as the Tafuna Telecommunications Building) in Tafuna is the tallest building in American Samoa (it is 4 stories tall).[12] Out of the tallest buildings of each U.S. state and territory, the ASTCA Telecommunications Building is the shortest. Construction of the building began in 2009 and ended in 2011.[12]

References

1. "iTWire - Samoans one step closer to broadband". www.itwire.com. Retrieved 21 December 2017.
2. eLandia. "eLandia and American Samoa Inaugurate Submarine Cable". Retrieved 21 December 2017.
3. "Hawaiki Cable Network". Retrieved 26 July 2018.
4. "Samoa News - Hawaiki cable now live, promising faster, more reliable internet service". Retrieved 26 July 2018.
5. "Hawaiki Transpacific Cable Completes Final Landing at American Samoa" (PDF). Retrieved 26 July 2018.
6. ASTCA - Samoatelco , BlueSky Communications , Pacifica IT Archived 2007-08-22 at the Wayback Machine
7. "The most expensive internet in America: fighting to bring affordable broadband to American Samoa". Engadget. 2012. Retrieved October 8, 2018.
8. "AMERICAN SAMOA FIBER OPTIC NETWORK". Underground Construction. Oildom Publishing Company of Texas, Inc. December 2015. Archived from the original on 2016-12-22. Retrieved 2016-12-22.
9. "American Samoa Telecommunications Authority (ASTCA) Goes Live with O3b Networks, Significantly Improves Broadband-based Services to Territory Residents". O3b Networks. 2015-06-15. Archived from the original on 2016-12-22. Retrieved 2016-12-22.CS1 maint: BOT: original-url status unknown (link)
10. "Internet - ASTCA". 10 November 2015. Archived from the original on 10 November 2015. Retrieved 21 December 2017.CS1 maint: BOT: original-url status unknown (link)
11. "Economic Development plan revives hope for call center". Osini Faleatasi Inc. 2015-02-15. Retrieved 2016-12-22.
12. http://www.sraa.co.nz/Projects/Commercial/ASTCA+Telecommunications+Building.html "ASTCA Telecommunications building - Swan Railley Architects". Retrieved September 4, 2019.