Pacific / Northern Marianas

CNMI still waiting for cable repairs

13:59 pm on 20 July 2015

A timeline for the repair of a vital telecommunications link in the CNMI is expected to be in place soon.

A 30 day state of emergency was declared in the CNMI last week after a fibre optic cable was severed by a boulder.

While phone and banking systems are back online, the internet in Saipan continues to be slow.

Our correspondent, Mark Rabago, says a Taiwanese repair ship is expected to arrive in the CNMI early on Wednesday morning.

"Once the ship comes here, and they finally assess the damage to the cable, they will finally be able to give the public a much awaited timeline when full service, the internet and mobile devices will be back."

Mark Rabago says the 4G connection has come back, so people can again access the internet on their smart devices.

However, he says people are being told to avoid streaming sites like Youtube, and to just use the internet for basic communication.

An IT&E diver checks an undersea fibre optic cable Photo: IT&E