BEAD

‘We Did Not Compromise’: Northern Mariana Islands Advances Fully Underground Fiber Buildout

Officials resisted pressure to scale back resiliency standards on the territorywide broadband project.

Mira Bhakta

May 15, 2026 — 2 min read

Photo of CNMI Governor David Mundo Apatang and staff signing BEAD agreement on May 13, 2026 by Emmanuel T. Erediano.

May 15, 2026 – The Northern Mariana Islands formalized Wednesday plans to build a fully underground, climate-hardened end-to-end fiber optic network to reach every resident, business and community anchor institution in the Commonwealth.

“Today is not ceremonial,” Glen Hunter, special assistant for the Broadband Policy and Development Office, remarked at the signing ceremony. “What we are signing today is about recovery, resilience and rebuilding in a way that finally breaks a cycle we all know too well.”

The project is funded through the federal Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program, part of the bipartisan infrastructure law designed to expand high-speed internet access nationwide.

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BEAD CNMI Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands Fiber Glen Hunter David Gibson IT&E

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