‘Guam HafaTel to expand to Saipan’

A Guam telecommunications company is now developing cellular sites on Saipan to expand its services, using GSM technology that allows subscribers to use smart cards in their cellular phone units, sources said.

Guam Wireless Telephone Company LLC, the company operating HafaTEL, reportedly plans to expand its services to Saipan soon. If the plan materializes, HafaTEL will become the first GSM service provider in the Commonwealth.

Although the company has yet to officially announce this development, inside sources told the Saipan Tribune said that HafaTEL has begun conducting tests of its cellular coverage on Saipan. On Guam, HafaTEL reportedly services over 10,000 subscribers and visitors.

HafaTEL’s GSM technology makes it a potentially strong competitor in the CNMI’s telecom industry. GSM technology is popular among the CNMI’s Asian community, since this is the dominant cellular technology in the Philippines and major parts of Asia.

GSM allows subscribers to use smart cards or subscriber identity module (SIM) cards, which are placed inside a GSM cellular phone. SIM cards encrypt voice and data so that the subscriber can be identified and authenticated to the network.

A SIM can be moved from one phone to another, and different SIMs can be inserted into any GSM phone. The SIM also stores data such as personal phone settings specific to the user and phone numbers.

This would also mean that subscribers in the CNMI can use their cell phones in their home countries by merely switching SIM cards—so long as their service provider also uses GSM technology.

HafaTEL’s plan to expand services to Saipan came about amid repositioning among the Marianas region’s telecom providers.

Before 2004 ended, TeleGuam Holdings LLC acquired the Guam Telephone Authority, the last government-owned local exchange company in the United States, for $150 million.

The transaction was also considered the largest single purchase of a government-owned utility agency on Guam, a development that was seen as opening the door for new telecommunications products and services on that island. GTA serves approximately 65,000 telephone access lines and owns cellular assets on Guam.

In the CNMI, the planned takeover of Verizon from Micronesian Telecommunications Corp. has yet to be consummated. The Commonwealth Telecommunications Commission’s board has decided to grant prospective purchaser Pacific Telecom Inc. a license to operate Verizon and approve the multi-million-dollar telecom deal, although an official written order has yet to be issued.

Unlike HafaTEL, Verizon uses CDMA technology and has vowed to improve its services using the CDMA development path.