The Cayman Islands Government has opened the procurement process for a subsea cable project intended to strengthen the islands’ international telecommunications infrastructure.
The Ministry of Planning, Lands, Agriculture, Housing and Infrastructure (PLAHI) announced that a notice of opportunity (NOO) is now live on the government’s Bonfire procurement portal.
The NOO invites qualified international organisations and consortia to take part in procurement for the development, construction, operation and commercialisation of new submarine fibre-optic cable connectivity.
The project would deliver a new submarine cable connection to Grand Cayman, with an option for a link between Cayman Brac and Grand Cayman.
The infrastructure is intended to enhance redundancy, improve resilience against outages and support the continued growth of the digital economy and national services.
Infrastructure minister Jay Ebanks said in a news release on 9 February: “Resilient international connectivity is essential to the Cayman Islands’ economic stability, national security and everyday life.
“This notice of opportunity represents a decisive step towards securing our digital future by attracting experienced global partners capable of delivering critical, long-term submarine cable infrastructure.
“We are seeking organisations with the technical expertise, commercial capability and financial strength to deliver this nationally significant project with confidence and at scale.”
Under the NOO process, prospective bidders must demonstrate, on a pass/fail basis, proven experience in constructing and commercially operating submarine fibre-optic cable systems or international telecommunications networks.
Applicants must also evidence a corporate structure with the scale and resources to deliver a national infrastructure project, and complete a non-disclosure agreement.
Organisations that meet the requirements will gain access to a request for proposals, which has already been prepared and will be released to qualified respondents immediately.
The government does not intend to enter the telecoms market directly and is instead seeking to partner with an international wholesale operator, with a one-time grant subsidy on offer to support delivery.
At least one group has publicly signalled their intent to bid.
A consortium comprising Ecuador-based Telconet LatAm, local internet provider Salt Wireless and its sister firm Cayman Cable Co announced in January that it would enter the process.
The deadline for NOO submissions is 2 March.
