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1 PREPARED STATEMENT OF STEPHAN ADAMS, VINGN PRESIDENT & CEO BEFORE THE SENATE COMMITTEE ON HOUSING, TRANSPORTATION, AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS 36TH LEGISLATURE OF THE VIRGIN ISLANDS April 8, 2026 Good morning, Honorable Marvin Blyden, Chairman of the Committee on Housing, Transportation, and Telecommunications, Honorable Senators, and the listening and viewing audiences. I am Stephan Adams, President and CEO of viNGN, Inc. Today, I am honored to present to you today. I would like to begin by thanking the dedicated employees of viNGN. They work tirelessly to maintain our 100% fiber optic network, which is a reliable and resilient infrastructure that is affordable to our ISP partners. We provide them with wholesale bandwidth which they resell directly to end-users. viNGN recently completed the deployment of over 600 free community Wi-Fi access points on all three islands under an ARPA grant. Sites include all public housing locations, public schools, and other public places. We strategically selected locations that enable anyone to access the Internet from within 5 minutes of their home. We are working closely with VITEMA to provide broadband connectivity to all storm shelter sites. Our community Wi-Fi program is not intended to replace commercial Internet service provided by our ISPs. Rather, it was a community accessibility initiative. 2 Funds from our ARPA grant were also used to upgrade our core network equipment and for data exchange to 100 Gbit from 10 Gbit. This increases our performance and resilience. viNGN has also undertaken a $650,000 out of pocket upgrade of our batteries and AC units at all our 23 Fiber Access Points (FAPs) locations. We have also been awarded a multi-million FEMA mitigation grant to replace all our generators and to enclose them. These upgrades further enhance our network reliability. Additionally, we recently lowered our wholesale bandwidth price by over 40% for new orders or contract renewals. This is the first significant price reduction since the company’s inception. This action was taken to help make broadband access more affordable. We also added new direct network dark fiber leasing to give our ISPs greater independence and flexibility options. These new initiatives have been popular, which have increased revenue. This revenue gain has allowed us to pay for much needed infrastructure upgrades and equipment replacement. Our goal is to replace all original equipment by the end of this year and work towards further wholesale price reductions. I would like to note that we have initiated a revenue diversification strategy through the exploration of new technologies. Satellite bandwidth is chief among these innovations. We are actively witnessing Starlink Internet service gaining market share in the territory. Their market growth will likely continue at the expense of local ISPs. viNGN intends to provide wholesale satellite connectivity offerings through a strategic partner so our ISP partners have an option to compete against Starlink. This will secure viNGN’s relevance, while protecting local ISPs market share against a global broadband juggernaut. 3 Lastly, I want to update this committee on DiasporaLink. This is a federal initiative to run undersea cables between the territory and Africa. Satellite connectivity is now a component of this strategy. This option was discussed during my two trips in support of the Ghana mission. It was well received by the Minister of Special Projects and the Minister of Telecommunications. I also had the opportunity to present DiasporaLink to the President of Ghana Chief of Staff. It is imperative to gain support in Africa, as the DiasporaLink Act moves next to the US Senate for approval and then to the President to sign. Once enacted, a one-year feasibility study is conducted for funding consideration. Upon a federal appropriation, DiasporaLink will become an economic driver of digital commerce between the Africa and the United States, with the USVI serving as the digital hub. This concludes my testimony. Thank you for your attention. I look forward to answering your questions. ###