Tonga Cable System
 | This article may be affected by the following current event: 2022 Hunga Tonga eruption and tsunami. Information in this article may change rapidly as the event progresses. Initial news reports may be unreliable. The last updates to this article may not reflect the most current information. (January 2022) |
| Founded | Construction began 2012 |
|---|---|
Area served | Tonga & Fiji |
| Owner | Tonga Cable Limited (TCL) |
| Website | Tonga Cable Limited |
Tonga Cable System is a submarine fiber-optic cable system connecting Tonga with Fiji,[1] where it connects to other international networks. It is 827 kilometres (514 mi) long and was activated in 2013.[1] It has cable landing points at Sopu, a suburb of Nukuʻalofa in Tonga, and Suva, Fiji.[1] The project was funded by Asian Development Bank[2] and the World Bank.[3]
An extension of the cable to Haʻapai and Vavaʻu was commissioned in April 2018.[4]
History
On January 20, 2019, the cable broke and disrupted Internet to Tonga. Satellite communications was used as backup.[5]
Three years later, the 2022 Hunga Tonga eruption disrupted it again.[6] A specialist repair ship from SubCom could take days to get to the fault site, as it is deployed from Port Moresby, the capital of Papua New Guinea. It is expected to take at least two weeks to repair the system, assuming no new eruption affects the zone.[7][8]
References
- ^ a b c "Tonga Cable Launch". TongaCable. 21 August 2013. Retrieved 23 October 2013.
- ^ "Tonga-Fiji Submarine Cable Project". Asian Development Bank. 9 September 2011. Retrieved 23 October 2013.
- ^ "Contract for the Submarine Cable System for Tonga Signed Today". Tonga Ministry of Information and Communications. 10 May 2012. Retrieved 23 October 2013.
- ^ "Tonga-Fiji Submarine Cable Project". Asian Development Bank. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
- ^ Nick Perry (23 January 2019). "No screen time: Tonga faces weeks of internet disruption". Associated Press. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
- ^ Keall, Chris (16 January 2022). "Tonga volcanic eruption: Looks like worst-case scenario for islands' internet cable". NZ Herald. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
- ^ Menon, Praveen (18 January 2022). "Undersea cable fault could cut off Tonga from rest of the world for weeks". Reuters. Retrieved 19 January 2022.
- ^ "Tonga undersea cable needs 'at least' four weeks to repair: NZ". BBC News. 19 January 2022.
External links
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