Date:16/08/11

Tonga to gain broadband internet access

The Tongan government, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and World Bank have announced on Wednesday a programme that will deliver high speed broadband to 100,000 inhabitants of the country through an underwater optic fibre cable.
According to ADB President Haruhiko Kuroda (pictured), the US$34 broadband cable will connect Tonga up to the Southern Cross Cable, the main trans-Pacific link between Australia and the United States. “This critical link will connect Tonga firmly with the rest of the world, generating huge economic opportunities from early 2013 when the cable should be in place and marking a key step in Tonga’s international connectivity,” Kuroda said.
World Bank Group President Robert Zoellick said access to broadband links will help businesses in job expansion schemes and allow Tongans to easily and cheaply contact their families overseas.
“It (programme) will also make it easier for Tongans living abroad to remit money home – critically important as remittances comprise about a third of GDP,” he added. The high-speed internet connection to Tonga will build on the telecommunications reform over the past five years in the country, which has resulted in a six-fold increase in mobile phone coverage in the same period.
ADB is expected to provide US$9.7 million and the World Bank is anticipated to give US$17.2 million for the programme. The Tongan government will commit the remaining funds. The project will go before ADB’s Board of Directors for consideration on August 23 and to the World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors on August 30. The funds from both ADB and the World Bank will be on 100 per cent grant terms.

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