By Cayman News
Grant Thornton Specialist Services (Cayman) Limited has won the CI$250,000(US$ 299,400) contract to conduct a formal feasibility study into the modernisation of the Cayman Islands’ submarine cable infrastructure. The study will form the outline business case that will inform the government about whether or not to invest in a third communication cable. The proposal is a carry-over policy from the previous administration that PACT supports, being keen to ensure that Cayman remains well connected to the world.
The consultants were selected following a request for proposals at the end of last year, which officials said had attracted several professional and specialist submarine cable consultancies. It also follows industry and stakeholder consultations that the government said have been carried out over the past eighteen months.
During that consultation period, as the PPM-led administration began preparing the bid for an outline business case, Cable & Wireless, part of the consortium of members that use and operate the existing undersea cables, said plans to sink this third cable were unnecessary.
Director, Consortium Cable Management for Cable & Wireless Networks, which has overseen the operations and management of the two existing sub-sea cables since their inception, Paul Kirwan implied in July 2020 that the move would be pointless.
“Even if Caymanian consumption were to increase five-fold in the next 10 years, there would not be a capacity concern for the current subsea network,” he said in a press release at the time. “Should the need ever arise to repair a cable, the average time to do so is 15 to 25 days, however, most ISP routing systems are designed and scaled to automatically allow for traffic to be re-routed to the secondary cable route to facilitate repair without any noticeable impact or congestion.”
The construction of a new cable does not yet have a price tag but it’s expected to be a costly exercise, and likely controversial if it is seen as an unnecessary expenditure of public funds. Nevertheless, Infrastructure Minister Jay Ebanks said the government aims to transform the international connectivity of the islands.
“We are bringing in world class experts to help analyse the options and identify the best approach to take in regard to this major infrastructure project,” he said. “This initiative forms a key pillar of our strategy to ensure the Cayman Islands benefit from world class connectivity in order to underpin a transformation of our economy and society into a thriving digital future,” Ebanks added.
Partner and Head of Public Services at Grant Thornton, Will McWilliams, said the specialist submarine cable expertise of Pioneer Consulting were part of team that would be conducting the study. “We are very much looking forward to working together on this crucial initiative,” he said.
