ZCZC
BFF-19
TONGA-TELECOMMUNICATION-INTERNET
Tonga: Whole country cut off from Facebook, YouTube
NUKU’ALOFA, Tonga, Jan 23, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Tonga has been plunged into
virtual cyber darkness after an undersea cable broke, cutting off the Pacific
island kingdom from almost all cell phone and Internet services.
While life without the Internet may be considered a paradise for many,
Tonga relies heavily on links with the outside world for daily supplies and
vital tourist earnings, and faced “an absolute disaster” as officials
struggled to fix the problem.
“We are all heavily tied to the Internet for doing business and for the
government,” Mary Fonua, editor of the online news service Matangi Tonga,
told AFP on Wednesday.
“There’s no Facebook, which is how the Tongan diaspora communicate with
each other, businesses can’t get orders out, airlines can’t take bookings for
passengers or freight.”
While the authorities look into the cause and struggle to find a solution,
they have turned to a small, locally operated satellite connection as back-
up.
In the meantime non-essential social media sites like Facebook have been
blocked to preserve much-needed bandwidth.
The restricted access also meant serious problems getting money transfers
through for families who rely on income from relatives working overseas.
“It’s an absolute disaster for Tonga, a national crisis,” Fonua said.
Tonga Cable, which administers the 827-kilometre (514-mile)cable between
Tonga and Fiji, said Internet traffic had to be prioritised until repairs
were completed, and in the meantime social media websites may be blocked
while the country of 110,000 relies on makeshift connectivity.
“Eighty percent of our international traffic is from social media,” Tonga
Cable director Paula Piukala told Radio New Zealand.
“We may block Facebook, YouTube and stuff like that in the meantime so that
we can maximise the small bandwidth that we have from satellite on what is
important to the country.”
At the Bank of South Pacific Tonga, acting operations manager Salesi
Fineangano said telex transfers could be completed via satellite connection
to the bank headquarters in Papua New Guinea, “but we need the regular
internet connection for Moneygram, internet banking and emails”.
Officials said it could take up to two weeks to fix the cable.
BSS/AFP/MSY/1029 hrs