Скачать или смотреть Apatang seeks more time to award $81M BEAD Program contract

Gov. David M. Apatang said his administration will ask the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) for more time to award the $81-million Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program contract, following a formal protest lodged by Docomo Pacific.

The telecom provider filed a complaint against the CNMI Broadband Policy and Development Office, alleging that federal cost-efficiency guidelines were ignored when a $31-million provisional award was granted to rival IT&E.

“Docomo has come out with a public statement that they want to challenge it. Well, I'm not sure what's going on yet about that. I think Docomo filed a protest on that. We have not decided what to do yet. So, until we come back from Washington, D.C., then we'll probably sit down with Broadband and find out what's going on,” Apatang told reporters at the ribbon-cutting of the Pedro P. Tenorio Multi-Purpose Center’s solar panel project last Aug. 29.

The governor confirmed that his administration has already drafted a letter to the NTIA to formally request an extension.