Dropped calls, failure of SMS texts between BlueSky and American Samoa Telecommunications Authority (ASTCA) cells, the emergency alert system and cable TV service, were among topics that the CEOs of BlueSky and the ASTCA were questioned about at a hearing of the House Communications Committee yesterday.
ASTCA CEO Chuck Leota and BlueSky CEO Justin Tuiasosopo had the same answers about why text messages between BlueSky and ASTCA phones are almost impossible.
They said, SMS communication goes through a third party but the connections are not always good. Sometimes the messages are clear but many times the messages are not clear, or they are in a different language.
The officials assured House members they are working to make improvements, so there’s no need for a third party and they can connect directly.
BlueSky CEO Tuiasosopo said that their company is making upgrades, so that all voice and data calls, travel quickly and clearly. He said voice calls are okay, but they’re still working on the text messaging.
Regarding dropped calls, the two CEOs listed parts of the island where dropped calls are experienced usually, because there’s a mountain blocking the signal or where they don’t have towers.
Another issue of interest to Committee Chairman Rep. Luaitaua Gene Pan and members was the emergency alert system in times of disaster.
Leota stated that ASTCA is now on the Wireless Emergency Alert (WEA) System, whereby alerts of disasters can be instantly delivered to phones, radio, TV and other platforms, as soon as an alert is issued by authorities.
In BlueSky’s case, however, they still use a manual system, which takes a while to disseminate. CEO Tuiasosopo said that BlueSky has 70-75% of the market, which means it takes longer for BlueSky to send alerts about disasters to everyone. He said BlueSky is working towards using the WEA system.
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Rep. Larry Sanitoa expressed concern that, six months ago, the House was told that the emergency alert system would be fully functional but this is not the case. He urged that this be made a priority.
The officials were also asked about the recent outage of the Territorial Bank of American Samoa’s (TBAS) internet service, which resulted in the shutdown of banking services.
Vice Speaker Fetui Fetu said the failure was blamed on BlueSky, and he was curious as to why ASTCA couldn’t provide a back-up service.
ASTCA CEO Leota said, they have met with TBAS management and there was a concern about security. He said they have assured TBAS that ASTCA has adequate firewalls for protection, and they have submitted a proposal to the government bank for internet service.
