News - The Kingdom of Tonga in the South Pacific was cut off from the Internet after a volcanic eruption. The state was connected to the world by a si

It will take weeks to restore Internet access in the Kingdom of Tonga - News Bbabo

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2022-01-20 14:00:04

News - The Kingdom of Tonga in the South Pacific was cut off from the Internet after a volcanic eruption. The state was connected to the world by a single underwater Internet cable.

Like many island nations, Tonga connects to the Internet with a single garden-hose-thick submarine cable that contains fiber optic strands. However, on January 18, international and domestic Internet communications were interrupted due to cable damage.

The internet cable connecting Tonga to the internet is 827km long, according to Reuters, and is secured via a relay in Fiji, its second-nearest neighbor. Repairing a cable can take up to two weeks, as the job requires the intervention of a submarine cable repair specialist.

The nearest such ship is Reliance, owned by the American firm SubCom. But it is currently moored 4,700 km away in Port Moresby, the capital of Papua New Guinea, and will take several days to reach Tonga.

According to Craige Sloots, director of marketing and sales for Southern Cross Cable Network, which operates several submarine cables in the region, this means it could take two weeks to restore Internet connectivity in Tonga. In addition, the work will depend on volcanic activity.

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