Attachment Letter

Letter

LETTER submitted by Dept. of Interior

DOI Letter dtd 9.18.08

2008-09-18

This document pretains to SCL-LIC-20080814-00016 for License on a Submarine Cable Landing filing.

IBFS_SCLLIC2008081400016_667758

                   United States Department of the Interior                            I/r:Q,J
                                 OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY                                ~~
                                    Washington, DC 20240                               TAKE PRID~
                                                                                       INAMERICA

                                       September 18, 2008


Ms. Marlene H. Dortch
Secretary
Federal Communications Commission
445 12th Street, S.W.
Washington, D.C. 20554

       Re:     Joint Application of American Samoa Hawaii Cable, LLC, Pac-Rim
               Redeployment, LLC, and AST Telecom, LLC, for a Cable Landing License for the
               American Samoa-Hawaii Cable, FCC File No. SCL-LIC-20080814-00016

Dear Ms. Dortch:

The u.S. Department ofthe Interior ("DOl") supports expeditious grant of the above-referenced
application (filed on August 13,2008) for the first-ever undersea telecommunications cable to
serve American Samoa. Accordingly, the 001 urges the FCC to grant the application pursuant
to its streamlined processing procedures thereby allow the applicants to proceed with installation
of the American Samoa-Hawaii Cable ("ASHC") System in early 2009.

The Secretary of the Interior administers American Samoa as an unincorporated and unorganized
territory of the United States and has responsibility for coordinating federal policy in American
Samoa.I 001' s Office of Insular Affairs executes these responsibilities on behalf of the
Secretary. As such, DOl has a strong interest in promoting the deployment of
telecommunications infrastructure to support the American Samoa economy and to lower
communications costs. American Samoa's geographic remoteness has limited opportunities for
economic growth and exposed American Samoa to boom-and-bust cycles depending on the state
of local fisheries, as American Samoa's undiversified economy depends heavily on two tuna
canneries. Moreover, American Samoa's dependence on satellite circuits for connectivity has
made telephone and Internet connectivity beyond American Samoa very expensive.

Given these realities, DOl has long supported the development of an undersea fiber-optic system
to serve American Samoa and has allocated funding in the OIA budget to that end. A fiber-optic
connection will improve connectivity beyond American Samoa while enhancing Internet usage
and penetration. It will also foster the development of offshore service industries-such as call
centers-that are a natural fit with American Samoa's bilingual, English-speaking population
and encourage the use of telemedicine and distance learning, thereby contributing significantly to
the quality of life of American Samoans.



   See Executive Order 10264 (June 29,1951),16 Fed. Reg. 6417 (1951).


Ms Marlene H Dortch
Federal Communications Commission
September 18, 2008
Page 2


For these reasons, DOl urges the FCC to license the ASHC System as quickly as possible to
ensure the delivery of high-speed, lower-cost communications to the people of American Samoa.
Should you have any questions or require further information, please contact me by telephone at
(202) 208-4736.

                                            Respectfully submitted,

                                       ~~
                                        fY'Nikolao 1.Pula
                                          . Director
                                            Office of Insular Affairs


cc:    James Ball (FCC/IE)
       David Krech (FCC/IE)
       Amb. David Gross (Dep't of State EEB/CIP)
       Kathy Smith (Dep't of CommerceINTIA)
       Josephine Arnold (Dep't of CommercelNTIA)
       Hillary Morgan (Dep't of Defense/DISA)
       Catherine Creese (Dep't of DefenselNavy)
       Douglas Daniels (DHS)
       Greg Pinto (DHS)
       John Connors (DOJINSD)
       Joanne Ongman (DOJINSD)



Document Created: 2008-10-02 12:10:49
Document Modified: 2008-10-02 12:10:49

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