The Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI) government has launched a national fiber optic ring project that will connect to the Arcos-1 system.
Arcos-1 is currently TCI's only connection to the United States, South America and other Caribbean islands. In the solicitation documents, the government specifies that the fiber ring must connect TCI's major inhabited islands, from Providenciales at its westernmost point to Grand Turk at its easternmost point. The project is currently seeking a consultant to "determine the best route for fiber optic link expansion ...... including redundancy and connection to/through the international fiber optic link."
Providenciales already has an international fiber optic link, but the other islands rely on microwave radio transmission. The bid documents note that the quality of service for this technology is affected by capacity issues and environmental damage caused by tropical storms, which could severely damage transmission equipment and supporting infrastructure.
