Catalysing Tuvalu’s ICT ambitions

A five-year agreement signed last year between the Tuvalu Government and satellite service provider Kacific Broadband Satellites International Limited (Kacific) came at critical juncture for the Polynesian nation, as borders closed in response to the coronavirus pandemic. 

With a population of 12,000 people spread out over 11 islands, Tuvalu has quickly gone from a country with typically very poor broadband Internet connectivity to one with superhighway speed, at a time when it could have otherwise been severely isolated.

And improved connectivity is powering its ambition to become the world’s first paperless society, using blockchain technology to create a digital ledger. Tuvalu aspires to store all its data online using Bitcoin Satoshi Vision’s (BSV) public ledger, and transition to a digital currency.

A statement released by Tuvalu’s government and tech companies involved in the project, noted that while the country is “typically seen as “small,” “remote,” and “precariously placed,” Tuvalu and its partners view the nation’s characteristics as an ICT strength that will allow it to maneuver more rapidly in terms of tech development.”

Kacific, which co-owns the next generation geostationary satellite Kacific 1, has now shown that island nations like Tuvalu do not necessarily have to wait for the arrival of submarine telecommunication cables in order to access faster and affordable Internet.

“Our work with Tuvalu Telecommunications Corporation (TTC) is a model of how a State-Owned Enterprise can effectively meet a range of different connectivity needs within its country by developing tailored packages for stakeholders from a single substantial supply of internet bandwidth,” company founder and CEO Christian Patouraux told Islands Business

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