PREPARED STATEMENT OF 
STEPHAN ADAMS, viNGN PRESIDENT & CEO 
BEFORE THE SENATE COMMITTEE ON 
HOUSING, TRANSPORTATION, INFRASTRUCTURE & 
TELECOMMUNICATIONS 
36TH LEGISLATURE OF THE VIRGIN ISLANDS 
April 23, 2025 
 
 
Good Afternoon, Honorable Marvin A. Blyden, Chairman of the Committee on 
Housing, Transportation, Infrastructure & Telecommunications, Honorable 
Senators, and the listening and viewing audiences. I am Stephan Adams, President, 
and CEO of viNGN, Inc. I am honored to present to you today.  
 
I would like to begin my testimony with a description of viNGN and our role in the 
community. viNGN is an instrumentality of the US Virgin Islands Government 
(GVI). We are solely owned by the Public Finance Authority (PFA). However, we 
are an incorporated entity with an independent board of directors of which Governor 
Bryan is our chairman.  
 
viNGN is a middle-mile provider of broadband services to Internet Services 
Providers (ISPs) in the Territory. We sell wholesale Internet connectivity in an open 
and nondiscriminatory manner. The ISPs in turn resell as last mile Internet access. 
 
viNGN’s mission is threefold: 1) make the Internet widely available, 2) ensure 
access affordability, and 3) maintain a resilient network. As it pertains to availability, 
our network is widely distributed on all three islands and between them via undersea 
cables. Regarding affordability, we are constantly working to lower our operating 
costs through best business practices. However, our capital costs remain high given 
the small size of our population, which limits the distribution of costs. With respect 
to resiliency, our network performs as reliably as most commercial networks on the 
 
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US mainland. We also perform regular network upgrades to keep pace with changing 
user habits and demands on our infrastructure.  
 
One significant change to our infrastructure has been increased bandwidth demand 
related to our community Wi-Fi deployment. viNGN’s Free Community Wi-Fi 
project is an initiative of Governor Bryan and has been a rousing success. viNGN 
has installed over 450 free Internet access points and counting. The project is made 
possible through an American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) grant. The ARPA grant is 
allowing viNGN to undertake extensive core network expansion and resiliency 
projects. It provides for the upgrade of critical networking equipment so we can now 
offer 100 Gigabyte throughput, up from 10 Gigabytes.  
 
One project we are most proud of is restoring 9 miles of fiber from Myrah Keating 
to Coral Bay in St. John, which was damaged during the 2017 hurricanes. We 
anticipate this project to be completed by June. viNGN is also collaborating with 
WAPA, undergrounding several critical segments of our infrastructure for 
resiliency. These are all obligated Federal Emergency Management Agency 
(FEMA) projects. Exhibit A provides further details. 
 
viNGN is now leasing segments of our infrastructure under long-term agreements to 
our ISP partners. This has been a popular new service which helps ISPs lessen their 
capital costs, while giving them more ownership of their service delivery. It also 
gives viNGN more predictable recurring revenues for long term sustainability.  
 
I would now briefly discuss viNGN’s approach to cyber security. We take this matter 
seriously. We understand that most cyber intrusions occur when employees 
unknowingly aid cyber mischief and criminality through downloading and sharing 
files that contain hidden threats. To counter these threats, all viNGN employees are 
 
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required to take mandatory annual cyber security training. We have seen first-hand 
the benefits of a literate cyber security workforce. This has motivated us to promote 
public cyber security awareness, which we will do over the next few years under a 
National Telecommunication and Administration (NTIA) grant.  
 
Turning now to how viNGN is impacted by changes to federal broadband guidelines. 
Our operations are not directly impacted by federal funding gyrations, as we get 
100% of our operating budget from income earned. On the grant programmatic side, 
viNGN has requested its final ARPA installment from OMB to complete our Wi-Fi 
project. We do not envision these funds to be delayed or clawed back.  
 
However, we had to make some structural adjustments to our $2.1 million Digital 
Equity grant that was awarded by NTIA last year. We now refer to this award as 
Digital Opportunity and have updated our program description to comply with new 
federal standards and Executive Orders. The goal of this grant is still to fund 
community digital literacy and engagement programs through governmental, non-
profits, and community partnerships. viNGN will provide program oversight and 
support, including financial reporting.  
 
Additionally, NTIA recommended that viNGN be awarded $2.5 million for public 
technology buses. Our application is currently under review by the National Institute 
of Standards and Technology (NIST). If awarded, this funding would enable viNGN 
to purchase three customized buses that house Science, Technology, Engineering, 
and Mathematics (STEM) teaching equipment and operate full-time program 
curriculum for five years. These vehicles will serve as mobile STEM classrooms, 
targeting public housing locations, senior centers, and public places. We anticipate 
an award resolution this summer.  
 
 
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Lastly, I would like to provide an update on the status of DiasporaLink Act (H.R. 
3385). This legislation authorizes a Congressional study into the feasibility of 
running undersea cables between the US Mainland (New York and Virgina) to 
Africa (Ghana and Nigeria) via the USVI. It also calls for an assessment of building 
a Tier 1 data center with an independent power plant of at least 100 Mega Watts on 
the island of St. Croix. Congresswoman Plaskett sponsored and shepherded 
DiasporaLink Act to unanimous passage in the 118th Congress. It stalled in the 11th 
hour in the Senate.  
 
DiasporaLink has garnered significant bi-partisan support due to national security 
interest for our country. Consequently, Congresswoman Plaskett was able to 
reintroduce the DiasporaLink Act in the current 119th Congressional session where 
it is undergoing a “markup.” We anticipate passage in both chambers of Congress 
and ultimately signed into law by the President. I call upon this body to support 
DiasporaLink on the grounds of economic development for the Territory.  
 
This concludes my testimony. Thank you for your attention. I look forward to 
answering any questions you may have.  
 
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Exhibit A