VZCZCXYZ0016
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHMU #0284 0761746
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 171746Z MAR 09
FM AMEMBASSY MANAGUA
TO SECSTATE WASHDC 3889

UNCLAS MANAGUA 000284 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
PASS TO S/CT, SRCLARK 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PTER PGOV ASEC EFIN ENRG
SUBJECT: NICARAGUA: CI/KR RESPONSE FOR S/CT 
 
REF: SECSTATE 15113 
 
¶1. (SBU) In response to reftel, Embassy Managua reports three 
international submarine fiber optic telecommunication cables, 
two in the Caribbean and one in the Pacific, parallel to 
Nicaragua's coasts and within the country's 200-mile 
Exclusive Economic Zone.  They are the Americas Region 
Caribbean Ring System (Arcos I), operated by a number of 
carriers including Columbus Networks (formerly New World 
Network) and Brightstar; the MAYA-1, operated by a consortium 
of operators including AT&T, MCI, and Sprint; and 
Pan-American Crossing (PAC-1), operated by Global Crossing. 
 
¶2. (U) In March 2006, Nicaragua signed a contract to 
establish a connection to Arcos I, which connects Nicaragua 
with 14 countries, including the United States and Puerto 
Rico, the Bahamas, the Turks and Caicos Islands, the 
Dominican Republic, Curacao, Venezuela, Colombia, Panama, 
Costa Rica, Honduras, Guatemala, Belize, and Mexico.  The 
cable has two landing points in Nicaragua, at Puerto Cabezas 
and Bluefields.  In June 2007, Arcos I suffered damage in the 
area along the coast of Nicaragua between Puerto Cabezas and 
Bluefields.  More than half of the Internet users in Colombia 
had no service due to that problem, and Internet service and 
data transmission among Florida, Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, 
Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Aruba, 
Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic and the Bahamas was 
significantly slowed. 
 
¶3. (U) The MAYA-1 cable system links Colombia to Hollywood, 
Florida, with landing points in Mexico, the Cayman islands, 
Honduras, Costa Rica, and Panama, but none in Nicaragua.  The 
Pacific-based 5,280 mile PAC-1 spans California to Panama, 
with no landing points in Nicaragua. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Embassy Managua reports no other critical 
infrastructure or key resources (CI/KR) vital to the United 
States' security, health, or safety.  This assessment was 
reached in consultation with relevant mission officers, 
including political, economic, security, defense, 
agriculture, facilities, and information resources. 
 
SANDERS