The Eloy S. Inos Administration is closing out on a $1.2 million federal grant to study the use, accessibility, coverage and cost of broadband in the CNMI, with a report updating an earlier 2012 broadband survey expected to be finished sometime this week, according to press secretary Ivan Blanco.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are doing the close-out documents,\u201d Blanco told Saipan Tribune yesterday. Additionally, he said, a report that maps out Internet usage in the CNMI is nearly complete and will be released by the CNMI Department of Commerce.<\/p>\n
Blanco said the report will contain information that the CNMI\u2019s anchor institutions\u2014its public schools, hospital, college, and first responders\u2014can use to apply for grants to improve their broadband usage.<\/p>\n
The federal grant from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration amounts to $1,210,116.\u00a0 The grant was awarded in 2010<\/p>\n
So far, Blanco said, the CNMI has used $1,203,170.<\/p>\n
The new study is seen as a \u201cfollow-up\u201d study to cover broadband usage in the Commonwealth covering the years from 2012 to 2014.<\/p>\n
The report will map out how many people have Internet, for example, and also get into download or upload speeds in the CNMI.<\/p>\n
Blanco said a team from the U.S. mainland was contracted to conduct the study and has met with providers like IT&E, iConnect, and Docomo Pacific, to determine the level of service.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople want Internet,\u201d Blanco noted, adding that the last Commerce report in 2012 showed that the CNMI is second in the entire United States with \u201ccost-prohibitive\u201d Internet.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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