Plans for a new subsea cable are moving forward amid growing concern about the long-term viability of Cayman’s current telecoms infrastructure.
The islands’ connectivity to the wider world – everything from Netflix and WhatsApp to credit card machines and Microsoft Teams calls – depends on two fibre-optic cables linking Cayman to Jamaica and to the US.
A burgeoning new digital assets industry and a growing dependence on tech in the financial services sector is increasing anxiety around the lack of resilience in this area.
Cayman’s main telecoms lifeline – the MAYA 1 sub-sea cable described as the ‘lifeblood of the economy’ – is reaching the end of its useful life, according to a government consultants report which made the case for new investment. That report, produced by Grant Thornton, suggested Cayman should fund at least one additional cable as a national security priority.
Now the National Coalition for Caymanians government has approved plans for the drafting of new legislation to advance the project, according to notes from a Cabinet meeting last month.
Asked for more details, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Infrastructure said in a statement, “The Cayman Islands Government has been actively assessing the risks associated with the territory’s international submarine cable connectivity. Following a detailed review by independent expert advisers, it was recommended that proactive steps be taken to safeguard this critical infrastructure.”
In the statement, government indicated it was advised to seek approval from Parliament for the necessary legislative powers to move the project forward. It describes this underpinning legislation as an essential step before “formally engaging with the market” to find the most effective outcome.
The Grant Thornton report, published last year, warned that Cayman does not currently have sufficient guarantees over the longevity of the existing infrastructure.
“Both systems are ageing and the Cayman Islands government has no certainty or control with regard to the future of either of the existing cables,” it stated.
“The Cayman Islands government considers subsea cables critical national infrastructure and the lack of certainty about their future introduces various risks to the islands and represents a threat to the islands’ future.”
The report spells out that two cables is the bare minimum to provide the back-up necessary to avoid regular data blackouts. If Cayman goes down to one cable, its entire economy could be at risk.
Speaking at a sub-sea networks conference in London last year, Ranulf Scarbrough, who leads the Cayman Islands Submarine Cable Modernisation Project, was quoted as indicating a preference for a direct link to the US.
According to online magazine Data Center Dynamics, he said a 10-day cable outage could cost Cayman £150-200 million.