Patti Arroyo spoke with Brad Ruszala about the what life was like in Saipan during the downed cable.
The IT&E downed cable situation may be nearing an end as the latest news to come out of IT&E gives a complete repair of the damaged cable. Earlier this morning, a resident of Saipan spoke with Patti Arroyo about life in Saipan during the blackout.
According to the latest press release, IT&E says that the repair on the undersea fiber cable is complete. According to the release, IT&E has quote “begun migration of all circuits and traffic back to the cable early Monday.” IT&E expects this to take several days to complete. The communications company says that customers may experience temporary service interruptions as work to restore connectivity progresses. As connections are restored, and communication once again flows out of Saipan, a firsthand account of what life was like inside the CNMI. Earlier on the breakfast show with Patti arroyo, Brad Ruzsala, spoke with Patti about the impact the IT&E downed cable had on the economy in Saipan.
“Well you know, luckily the folks with IT&E were able to get us some level of communication, a few days in, when I finally was able to get back it was tough I couldn’t fly on cape air, I was supposed to leave at like 8 in the morning but I wasn’t able to get back until the next Monday,” said Ruszala. “So if that was me and I’m a local I cant imagine how that works for a tourist. But during that time, there were folks who could not make purchases on their credit cards. It was a very difficult time, even for small retailers.”
He says that the communications blackout reminded him of a CNMI before basic credit card technology.
“Every little point of sale, little credit card machine, you see those in every store now but when I first got to Saipan in 2003, that wasn’t the case, you know you couldn’t use your credit card anywhere. But that’s what it was when I first got back, a couple weeks ago. The impact was huge, it was felt by everybody,” said Ruszala
The exact cause of damage to the cable is still to be determined but IT&E says they will provide updates as necessary.
