Tonga Cable System

{{short description|Submarine cable system connecting Tonga with Fiji}}

{{Infobox company

| name = Tonga Cable System

| logo =

| type =

| fate =

| predecessor =

| successor =

| founded = Construction began 2012

| defunct =

| area_served = Tonga & Fiji

| owner = Tonga Cable Limited (TCL)

| homepage = {{URL|http://tongacable.to}}

| footnotes =

}}

Tonga Cable System is a submarine fiber-optic cable system connecting Tonga with Fiji,{{cite web|url=http://tongacable.to/?page_id=222|title=Tonga Cable Launch|publisher=TongaCable|date=21 August 2013|access-date=23 October 2013}} where it connects to other international networks. It is {{convert|827|km}} long and was activated in 2013. It has cable landing points at Sopu, a suburb of Nukuʻalofa in Tonga, and Suva, Fiji. The project was funded by Asian Development Bank{{cite web|url=http://www.adb.org/projects/44172-022/documents|title=Tonga-Fiji Submarine Cable Project|publisher=Asian Development Bank |date=9 September 2011|access-date=23 October 2013}} and the World Bank.{{cite web|url=http://www.mic.gov.to/news-today/press-releases/3737-contract-for-the-submarine-cable-system-for-tonga-signed-today|title=Contract for the Submarine Cable System for Tonga Signed Today|publisher=Tonga Ministry of Information and Communications|date=10 May 2012|access-date=23 October 2013}}

An extension of the cable to Haʻapai and Vavaʻu was commissioned in April 2018.{{cite web|url=https://www.adb.org/projects/44172-022/main|title=Tonga-Fiji Submarine Cable Project|publisher=Asian Development Bank|access-date=18 January 2022}}

History

On 20 January 2019, the cable broke and disrupted Internet services to Tonga. Satellite communications were used as a backup.{{cite web|url=https://abcnews.go.com/beta-story-container/Technology/wireStory/screen-time-tonga-faces-weeks-internet-disruption-60562064|title=No screen time: Tonga faces weeks of internet disruption|agency=Associated Press|author=Nick Perry|date=23 January 2019|access-date=23 January 2019}}

Three years later, the 2022 Hunga Tonga–Hunga Ha'apai eruption disrupted it again.{{cite web |url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/tonga-volcanic-eruption-looks-like-worst-case-scenario-for-islands-internet-cable/BA36BLVARRAPVPP3IO5XPHA5B4/ |title=Tonga volcanic eruption: Looks like worst-case scenario for islands' internet cable|last=Keall|first=Chris|work=The New Zealand Herald|date=2022-01-16|access-date=2022-01-17}} A specialist repair ship from SubCom could take days to get to the fault site, as it was deployed from Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea. It was expected to take at least two weeks to repair the system, assuming no new eruption affected the zone.{{cite web |url=https://www.reuters.com/markets/funds/undersea-cable-fault-could-cut-off-tonga-rest-world-weeks-2022-01-18/|title=Undersea cable fault could cut off Tonga from rest of the world for weeks|last=Menon|first=Praveen|agency=Reuters|date=2022-01-18|access-date=2022-01-19}}{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-60034179|title=Tonga undersea cable needs 'at least' four weeks to repair: NZ|publisher=BBC News|date=2022-01-19|access-date=2022-01-19}} Repair of the cable to Nukuʻalofa, of which 55 kilometres had disappeared, presumed buried by an underwater avalanche, was completed on 21 February, with testing and recommissioning expected within 24 hours. The extension from Nukuʻalofa to Haʻapai and Vavaʻu remained damaged.{{cite news |title=Internet restored to Tonga after cable destroyed by eruption is repaired |first=James |last=Halpin |date=22 February 2022 |url= https://www.stuff.co.nz/world/south-pacific/300523665/internet-restored-to-tonga-after-cable-destroyed-by-eruption-is-repaired |publisher=Stuff|location=New Zealand |access-date=22 February 2022}}

References

External links

[https://web.archive.org/web/20131029191556/http://tongacable.to/?page_id=105 Tonga Cable System Landing Stations]

Category:Submarine communications cables in the Pacific Ocean

Category:2013 establishments in Tonga

Category:2022 in Tonga