U.S. Pacific Territories Chart Path to Universal Broadband Coverage

Oct. 21, 2025 – Three U.S. territories located nearly 6,000 miles from the mainland – Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and American Samoa – have finalized plans to close vast Internet coverage gaps under the federal Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment program.

If approved, the plans would be transformational for the Pacific islands, delivering robust, resilient Internet connections to regions where as much as 80 to 100 percent of locations remain underserved.

In American Samoa, BEAD funding would be used to deploy broadband connections to 80 percent, or 7,653 of the territory’s 9,535 total locations. In the Northern Mariana Islands, it would connect every one of the island’s 9,568 locations to hardened, end-to-end fiber, marking the first time the islands would achieve universal broadband coverage.