The continuous cable disaster
Although I will not write on this again, but somehow has always been done.
In my previous analysis of August 2024, I explored the weak infrastructure of the optical cables in Tonga, suggested that the wide range of satellites as a more flexible connection. The recent events have only strengthened this evaluation.
As reported in Matangi Tonga, Kabul suffered the submarine of the local fiber tonga from another interruption after a series of strong earthquakes, including an earthquake of 6.8 size stationed in the Ha’Apai Group. This represents the fourth such as the accident from 2019 to 2024, with 80 % amazing average possibility of historical frequency to repeat the cable interruption.
Continuous disorders highlight the basic challenges of maintaining the infrastructure of cables that are submarried in the active marine environment in terms of seismic and volcanic. Despite large repair investments, the failure pattern remains unchanged.
Ministerial Meeting: Unveiled the difficult facts
Today, I was invited to a pivotal meeting with the Ministry of Public Institutions regarding the optical fiber cable project in Tonga Cable Ltd, a project that promises to communicate but raises more questions than answers.
Numbers game
The proposed project comes at a huge price of about 80 million Bianga, and it was funded by Australia and New Zealand. An additional annual hints of 100,000 (unconfirmed currency) hints to the broader economic complications of maintaining this infrastructure.
Uncomfortable facts
Nothing in wireless and wireless communications comes without hidden costs. Besides the title numbers, we are looking at the continuous expenses of:
- Energy interest bills
- Cooling systems
- Backup infrastructure
- Maintenance of sales equipment after sales
- Marine cable maintenance
The real winners and losers
Let’s avoid diplomatic crust and study those who really benefit from this infrastructure project.
Winners
- ContractorsThe basic beneficiaries secure profitable installation and maintenance contracts
- Legal companiesDrafting complex agreements and transferring international financing mechanisms
- Consulting agenciesGenerating reports and submitting recommendations “experts”
Losers
- New Zealand and Australian taxpayersFunding a dubious long -term infrastructure project
- Citizens Tonga: The future financial burdens of maintenance and replacement bear
- Future generationsInheritance of the increasingly excessive technological solution
Satellite disorder
While governments discuss the cable infrastructure, a quiet revolution is revealed through low -orbit satellite initiatives.
My personal experience talks about folders:
- There can be more than 500 groups of the group of stars that have already been published through the island’s societies, and the count
- Continuous growth in the adoption of the Internet via satellite
- Improving technology quickly and reducing costs
The legend of use
The proposed cable project claims to meet the communication needs, but let’s anatomy of actual use:
- Most of the Internet traffic includes social media platforms
- Facebook, Tiktok and Instagram controls the consumption of the frequency domain
- Bianga cable 80 million for support and flexibility to pass social media?
Possibility and flexibility
The possibility account reveals a blatant fact:
- 80 % opportunity for cable discounts on the basis of historical data
- 55.07 % of the possibility of at least one cut in a certain year (using the Poisson method)
- The proposed solution is not only connected to Vava’u when both the international cable is cut to Fiji and the local cable to Ha’APAI and Vava’u, leaving most of the islands in the dark.
A human approach
When a consultant noticed, “It comes to the country,” she replied with what I think is the main truth: “It relates to people. There is no country without its people.”
Long -term vision
The current agreement extends 15 years. But to be realistic, technology is evolving quickly. By the time this cable reaches its expected life, it is likely to be ancientically old.
The decisive question remains, that is, will we have another 80 million pa’anga for only one replacement, but it is likely that it will be multiple cables in the future?
Satellite: The optimum solution
The wide range of satellites offers the most promising solution to connect to Tonga:
- Comprehensive coverage via archipelago
- Flexible for environmental risks
- Fasting technology
- Much lower than long -term costs
Conclusion: Hybrid future
Tonga needs a hybrid connection solution. A strategic mixture of submarine cables and satellite technology represents the only way to ensure strong and reliable internet for all our islands.
Delivery is not a luxury, it is the lifeblood of our societies, actions and our future.
The question remains, will this new cable happen? Will it make the Internet cheaper for all citizens? Will there be teams in our daily life?
