VZCZCXYZ0024
RR RUEHWEB
DE RUEHMU #0202 0512001
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 202001Z FEB 08
FM AMEMBASSY MANAGUA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 2109
INFO RUEHZA/WHA CENTRAL AMERICAN COLLECTIVE
UNCLAS MANAGUA 000202
SIPDIS
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
STATE FOR S/CT SGROBERTSON
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ASEC ECON PETER PREL PGOV ETTC AID EAGER EFIN
SUBJECT: NICARAGUA: CI/KR RESPONSE FOR S/CT
REF: STATE 6461
1. (SBU) In response to reftel, Embassy Managua reports three
international submarine fiber optic telecommunication cables, two in
the Caribbean and one in the Pacific, parallel to Nicaragua's coasts
and within the country's 200-mile Exclusive Economic Zone. They are
the Americas Region Caribbean Ring System (Arcos I), operated by a
number of carriers including New World Network and Brightstar; the
MAYA-1, operated by a consortium of operators including AT, MCI
and Sprint; and Pan-American Crossing (PAC-1), operated by Global
Crossing.
2. (U) In March 2006, Nicaragua signed a contract to establish a
connection to Arcos I, which connects Nicaragua with 14 countries,
including the United States and Puerto Rico, the Bahamas, the Turks
and Caicos Islands, the Dominican Republic, Curacao, Venezuela,
Colombia, Panama, Costa Rica, Honduras, Guatemala, Belize, and
Mexico. The cable has two landing points in Nicaragua, at Puerto
Cabezas and Blueflieds. In June 2007, Arcos I suffered damage in
the area along the coast of Nicaragua between Puerto Cabezas and
Bluefields. More than half of the Internet users in Colombia had no
service due to that problem, and Internet service and data
transmission between Florida, Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, Honduras,
Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Aruba, Puerto Rico, the
Dominican Republic and the Bahamas was significantly slowed.
3. (U) The MAYA-1 cable system links Colombia to Hollywood, Florida,
with landing points in Mexico the Cayman islands, Honduras, Costa
Rica and Panama, but none in Nicaragua. The Pacific-based 5,280
mile PAC-1 spans California to Panama, with no landing points in
Nicaragua.
4. (SBU) Embassy Managua reports no other critical infrastructure or
key resources (CI/KR) vital to the United States' security, health,
or safety. This assessment was reached in consultation with
relevant mission officers, including political, economic, security,
defense, agriculture, facilities, and information resources.
SANDERS