HafaTEL projects mid-2005 operations

A Guam telecommunications company yesterday confirmed plans to expand its cellular services to Saipan, which would make it the first GSM service provider in the Commonwealth when it launches local operations possibly by mid-2005.

Guam Wireless Telephone Company LLC, the company operating HafaTEL, uses GSM-technology, which allows subscribers to make use of subscriber identity module (SIM) or smart cards that are placed inside cellular phone units.

“We already have some sites up there. We’re doing some testing,” said HafaTEL chief operating officer John Wu via telephone from Guam.

Wu confirmed yesterday that the company is preparing to launch its services by the middle of the year to Saipan, where there are thousands of Asian guest workers.

GSM technology is popular in Europe and in Asia, including the Philippines and China.

“All of these people [guest workers] come from countries with GSM network,” Wu said.

Viewing Asians’ familiarity with GSM technology as a marketing advantage, Wu said that HafaTEL would penetrate the Saipan market, which is currently dominated by CDMA-technology cellular providers.

“Being a newcomer, we will have a hard time, but we are obviously going in and try offering competitive prices,” Wu said, adding that GSM phones have wide roaming services.

GSM technology allows the use of SIM cards, which 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.

HafaTEL’s expansion plan came about amid major repositioning by telecom industry players in the Marianas region.

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

The GTA transaction was considered the largest single purchase of a government-owned utility agency on Guam, a development that is seen as opening the door to 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 approved the multi-million-dollar telecom deal, although an official written order has yet to be issued.

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