GTA’s Roadmap for Guam: Connecting Markets and Expanding Capacity

TELECOM REVIEW ASIA PACIFIC Feature

During an in-depth and exclusive discussion with Telecom Review Asia, Roland Certeza, CEO of GTA, shared the company’s vision for strengthening Guam’s digital infrastructure and its role as a trans-Pacific connectivity hub.

Could you share your key markets and strategic partnerships, and how GTA is positioning its offerings?

GTA is Guam’s leading digital infrastructure provider, delivering broadband, wireless, data center colocation, and subsea cable landing services. For more than 70 years, we’ve been both a trusted community partner and a regional gateway. As the only fully U.S.-owned telecom provider on Guam, we help enterprises, from banks and hospitals to government agencies and small businesses, operate with the same secure, high-performance connectivity as their global counterparts.

Guam’s geography places it at the crossroads of Asia, Oceania, and North America, making it one of the most important hubs for trans-Pacific traffic. We’ve invested heavily in the island’s infrastructure, operating more than 500 miles of diverse, protected, buried fiber that connects every cable landing station (CLS), all major data centers, and more than 200 on-net commercial, government, and military sites.

Partnerships reinforce this role. Global carriers such as Lumen, PLDT, Cogent Communications, and Telstra have established points of presence (PoPs) at our facilities, enabling scalable access to IP transit, ethernet, and managed connectivity.

Our data centers already host major subsea systems, including JGA North, JGA South, and SEA-US, giving partners direct access to resilient trans-Pacific routes. 

Building on that foundation, our new GU-3 Data Center has already been selected to host the next wave of subsea systems, including Bifrost and ACC-1.

GTA has been part of Guam’s telecom story for more than 70 years. How have you invested in building the island’s digital infrastructure, and what excites you most today?

We’ve consistently reinvested in Guam’s digital backbone (wireless, fiber, and data centers). Our network includes diverse routes into major cable landing station partners like AT&T and Tata, along with a buried, protected fiber footprint that includes readily available dark fiber.

What excites us most is our data center portfolio. Since launching GU-1 and GU-2 in 2021, we’ve already reached 60% occupancy, with tenants ranging from global carriers to enterprises and government agencies. These facilities also anchor subsea systems such as JGA North, JGA South, and SEA-US, reinforcing Guam’s role as a critical interchange point between Asia and the U.S. Now, we’re building GU-3, a 4-MW, Tier-3-designed facility with six seaward ducts. It’s engineered to host multiple new subsea cables and is already nearly half pre-leased, a clear sign of the demand converging on Guam.

Where is GTA’s business heading, and how do you manage capacity demands?

At GTA, we’re seeing increasing demand across all three segments we serve: wholesale, enterprise, and consumer. On the wholesale side, we play a strategic role in connecting all major subsea cable systems that land on Guam, including SEA-US, AAG, JGA North, and TGN Pacific. These cables are integrated into our facilities via diverse terrestrial fiber routes, ensuring low-latency, high-redundancy connectivity from shore to core.

To stay ahead of rising capacity requirements, we maintain scalable bandwidth across multiple cable systems and reinforce our international reach through key points of presence. Much of this traffic flows back to the U.S. through CoreSite Los Angeles where we maintain direct IP transit, peering, and private network interconnections with global content platforms and cloud service providers (CSPs). On the island, we continue to expand our terrestrial core with Ciena-powered lit capacity and dark fiber options to support hyperscale workloads, secure government services, and enterprise-grade applications. With resilient subsea routes, diverse terrestrial fiber, and scalable lit and dark capacity, we’re ensuring Guam and our customers have the bandwidth and flexibility to grow.

What sets Guam and GTA apart in the Asia Pacific?

As the closest U.S. territory to Asia, Guam provides the lowest-latency bridge between Asia’s fast-growing digital markets and the U.S. mainland. 

Already, 12 subsea cables land on Guam, with more on the way, including Bifrost, ACC-1, and Echo. Global platforms need new, diverse, and geopolitically stable paths to reach users. Guam offers that with U.S. oversight, regulatory alignment, and strategic proximity to Asia. As traffic volumes increase and latency becomes more critical, Guam is no longer optional; it’s essential, and GTA is at the center of it.

What differentiates us is our ability to energize these cables and extend secure connectivity across Guam, whether it be to a cable station, a data center, a government facility, or a U.S. military base. Our backbone provides lit capacity up to 100G and dark fiber options, along with seamless onward transit into global networks. And as a U.S. territory, Guam offers the legal protections, stability, and compliance with U.S. regulations that partners in the Asia Pacific value highly.

Looking ahead, what’s next for GTA?

The GU-3 Data Center is our next major milestone. This 4-MW, Tier-3 facility doubles as a cable landing station and has been purpose-built to host the next generation of subsea systems, including Bifrost and ACC-1. Through horizontal directional drilling, we’ve constructed seabed ducts that connect directly to the facility, enabling capacity for up to six systems and ensuring unprecedented scale for Guam, while serving as a game changer for trans-Pacific connectivity.

We’re also extending our reach to California through our Hermosa Beach Data Center, which already hosts four subsea cables with room to grow. Together, these investments ensure seamless continuity between Guam and the U.S. mainland.

At the end of the day, we’re investing ahead of demand with fiber buildouts, expanded colocation, and support for new cable landings. GU-3 is just the beginning. We’re also strengthening our partnerships with cloud providers, carriers, and government customers to ensure we stay ready for what’s next. GTA is more than a network operator and we’re enabling growth for Guam, our partners, and the wider region. Guam may be small, but with GTA’s continued investments, it stands tall as America’s edge in the Pacific.