Cayman’s recent outages of international internet connectivity have come to an end with the completion of repairs to the Maya-1 undersea cable, utilities regulator OfReg has announced.
The regulator, on Thursday, said that the repairs to the cable have resolved the ongoing outage on a section of the Maya-1 undersea cable which connects Cayman to the rest of the world.
It said, in a press release, that an offshore repair in Mexico was carried out by the cable ship ‘Wave Sentinel’ and a cable repair team, leading to “full traffic service” being restored on 10 Sept.
The fault was initially reported in late June 2024.
While the repairs were under way, internet traffic had been rerouted through Cayman’s second undersea cable connection, the Cayman-Jamaica Fibre System.
“While Cayman maintained connectivity with the rest of the world, the outage on a portion of the cable in Mexican waters highlighted the need for discussion relating to cost and availability of alternate or redundant connectivity routes,” OfReg said in its release.
Maya-1 is a 4,400-kilometre optical submarine cable system connecting the US, Mexico, Honduras, the Cayman Islands, Costa Rica, Panama and Colombia, owned by a consortium of companies, including Liberty Networks.
Maya-1 critical to Cayman connectivity
Maya-1 is one of the two undersea cables providing Cayman’s international connectivity requirements.
Hours before Beryl passed by Cayman in early July, restoration circuits on Maya-1 through Panama were brought online.
The Maya-1 fault, C3 CEO Randy Merren told the Cayman Compass at the time, had temporarily left all providers in Cayman reliant on another undersea cable, the Cayman-Jamaica Fibre System, to provide phone and internet service.
Liberty Networks offered a rerouted circuit on Maya-1 via Panama, but this route has much higher latency and a higher price.
The fault coincided with Hurricane Beryl, meaning Cayman businesses were forced to act fast amid fears of a telecoms blackout.
Local telecoms experts have suggested that government needs to build in resilience for Cayman’s connectivity through a third or even fourth subsea cable to ensure the communications infrastructure is uninterrupted.
OfReg, in its release, said while monitoring the outage situation it actively engaged local and international stakeholders to ensure that the Cayman Islands’ interest remained a priority for those involved in the restoration of the downed cable, especially given the length of delay in its full repair.
It said it met on 5 Sept. with senior executives from Maya1 Cable consortium member Liberty Networks, as well as Cable and Wireless Networks and local internet service providers C3, Digicel, Flow and Logic, to discuss the status of the cable repair and a number of other issues.
International connectivity is critical for Cayman in that it underpins the socioeconomic fabric of the country by providing access to the internet for domestic and business users in the country, including the financial services industry, tourism, government, hospitals and schools. – Sonji Myles, OfReg Interim CEO
These included the commercial agreements currently in force, access to normal and redundant capacity on cables in the region, and operational performance of services provided.
Sonji Myles, interim CEO of OfReg, said that, as the regulator, subject to jurisdictional limitations, it is “acting to ensure that Cayman’s international connectivity with the rest of the world is robust, effective and ultimately resilient”.
He said OfReg was pleased to be able to bring interested parties together to discuss the issues and was encouraged by the level of frank conversation and, in particular, the subsequent repair of the cable.
“Now that the cable is repaired, we will be focusing on addressing all of the other issues arising out of the discussions which may lead to establishing a contemporary regulatory framework focused on international connectivity,” he said.
Myles stressed the significance and importance of international connectivity as a key part of Cayman’s own infrastructure.
“As an island territory, international connectivity is critical for Cayman in that it underpins the socioeconomic fabric of the country by providing access to the internet for domestic and business users in the country, including the financial services industry, tourism, government, hospitals and schools. Any loss of service over these critical areas of infrastructure has the potential for severe consequences,” he said.
He added that OfReg will continue to work with licensees, cable owners, operators and other stakeholders to ensure that Cayman’s “international connectivity ecosystem is effectively maintained, resilient and protected”.
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