Jamaica makes plans to connect to TAM-1 subsea cable

Details: John Tanner; Category: Optical & Fixed Networks; 04 February 2026; 3110 views

The Jamaican government said on Tuesday it has signed a letter of intent with Trans Americas Fiber System to connect the island to the TAM-1 subsea cable.

TAM-1 is being deployed in two phases, with the first phase – scheduled to be ready for service in Q1 2026 – connecting Florida with Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands.

The second phase will add branches to connect Haiti, the Dominican Republic, British Virgin Island, Netherlands Antilles, Trindad, and – as of Tuesday – Jamaica.

According to the government’s Jamaica Information Service, Minister of Energy, Transport and Telecommunications Daryl Vaz said at the signing ceremony described TAM-1 as a “unique opportunity” to connect Jamaica to a new cable system, as it is nearly operational and the Jamaican branch can be installed relatively quickly, as the cable lies only 220 km off the coast.

Vaz said the TAM-1 branch will pack a fibre pair delivering up to 20 Tbps of international bandwidth to Jamaica. He also said the branch will help reduce international bandwidth costs for local operators by 99%, which is crucial for the success of the government’s National Broadband Project.

Vaz added that the final agreement is expected to be signed later this year with construction of the branch tentatively scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2026.

“We expect the cable will be fully operational by third quarter of 2027,” he said.

Jamaican prime minister Andrew Holness noted in his remarks that the impact of Hurricane Melissa in October 2025 has reinforced the importance of resilient infrastructure in Jamaica, which in turn can serve as a catalyst for transformation.

“We are using this moment as an opportunity to make strategic investments that will ignite economic growth and strengthen our national foundations,” he said.

Jamaica currently has two subsea links that connect outside of the Caribbean – the Colombia-Florida Express (CFX-1) system running from Florida to Colombia, and the ALBA-1 system between Cuba and Venezuela. It also has regional fibre links to the Cayman Islands, the Dominican Republic and the British Virgin Islands.