History - The local communications network in American Samoa, with connections to other U.S. and international points, was originally built by the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Department of the Interior, which formerly exercised governmental authority in the territory. The network was inherited by the American Samoa Government. Because of American Samoa's remote location, limited economy, and small population base, private companies have not been interested in providing local telecommunication services or originating long distance services in the territory to date.

Purpose and Operation - In order to provide local residents with service, the American Samoa Telecommunications Authority (ASTCA) of the American Samoa Government operates under a Board of Directors, which is appointed by the Governor. ASTCA operates without a governmental subsidy, and profits from telecommunications operations.

Penetration - ASTCA provides local service covering the main island and the principal outer islands of American Samoa and offers world-wide long distance connection. The ASTCA system is broadly used by residents of the main island and the outer islands. More than 80 percent of the households in American Samoa subscriber to telephone service provided by ASTCA.

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Local Services - ASTCA provides local subscribers with a full range of modern service features. These include single-party lines, touch-tone dialing, emergency numbres, directory assistance, operator assistance, interchange capability, and access to the Internet. Local residential subscribers pay $9.00 per month for full single-party service, and business subscribers pay $18 per month per line.

Long Distance Services - ASTCA provides outbound interstate and international service. ASTCA arranges with AT&T, GTE, MCI, and Sprint for the termination of traffic to other U.S. points.

Inbound calls - AT&T, GTE, MCI and Sprint have direct connections with ASTCA and provide inbound interstate service on a "connecting carrier" basis. Any other U.S. interexchange carriers ("IXCs") that provide inbound service do so on a resale basis. Inbound international service is provided by various foreign carriers.

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Interconnection Arrangements with Domestic Carriers -

1) The connections that ASTCA maintains with AT&T, MCI, Sprint, and GTE utilize Intelsat satellite service. ASTCA has access to Samoa Technologies, Inc. earth station facilities in American Samoa and has arranged through Comsat for long-term leases of Intelsat satellite half-circuits for connections to AT&T, MCI, Sprint, and GTE, with those carriers providing the othe half-circuits for connections to other U.S. points.

2) No U.S. IXC other than ASTCA currently has a point of presence ("POP") in American Samoa. ASTCA is, at present, the only carrier that provides originating long distance service in American Samoa, and terminates domestic interstate calls over the networks of AT&T, MCI, Sprint, and GTE on a "connecting carrier" basis. (See 47 C.F.R. 61.3(I)) ASTCA operates as a "connecting carrier" (both for a segment of the long distance service and for access to its local network) to enable other IXCs to terminate long distance calls in American Samoa.

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