FCC Wants Nearly $1 Billion to Revamp Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico Communications Networks

John McCarthyPosted oninAt VIFreep, Breaking News, Puerto Rico News, St. Croix News, St. John News, St. Thomas News, Technology News

WASHINGTON — Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chairman Ajit Pai today proposed directing $954 million toward restoring and expanding communications networks in the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico heavily damaged during the 2017 hurricane season.

In September, 95 percent of cell sites were out of service in Puerto Rico and 75 percent in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Pai said the funds are aimed at providing additional short-term assistance for restoring communications networks and longer-term support for expanding broadband access throughout the islands.

Nearly six months later, data from the Department of Energy shows that around 12.5 percent of Puerto Ricans are still without power.

(REUTERS)

John McCarthy

John F. McCarthy is a veteran journalist in the Caribbean, writing from the "Decision Space" where survival meets the surreal. His reporting steel was tempered by a lineage of legendary editors and broadcasters, including Ed Wynn Brant (The Bomb), Owen Eschenroder (Ann Arbor News), Lynelle Emanuel (BVI Beacon), and Charles Thanas (WSVI-TV). Alongside longtime colleague Kenneth C. "Casey" Clark, McCarthy has navigated the front lines of the territory’s history—from the 1997 volcanic "snow" to every major hurricane since Hugo. Known for leaning out of doorless helicopters to capture the "money shot," McCarthy now edits the V.I. Free Press, providing the essential link between the island's colonial past and its SpaceX future.