USP secures full patent for cyber resilient thermal power plants

The University of The South Pacific has secured a full patent from the Indian Patent Office for a system designed to counter cyberattacks targeting power

Read More

Banks and mobile wallet integration in Fiji ‘a game-changer’

People living and doing business in Fiji can now transfer funds between their mobile money wallets and bank accounts.

Read More

Starlink to launch soon in Samoa

The Office of the Samoa Regulator is on the verge of launching Starlink services in Samoa, according to the Regulator Lematua Gisa Fuatai-Purcell.  In response to queries from the Samoa Observer, she provided an update

Read More

Legal Starlink users remain online in Samoa

The Samoa regulator has announced that legal Starlink users in Samoa will continue to have access to their services, as confirmed by SpaceX and will not be affected by the temporary cut-off scheduled for 21 August. 

Read More

Starlink rollout slowly gains momentum

Starlink’s rollout in the region continues in fits and starts. The satellite technology company last month announced two authorised resellers in Fiji - Lightspeed Pacific and Telecom Fiji. Telecom Fiji CEO, Charles

Read More

Elon Musk invited to Pacific Island Leaders meeting amid Tonga’s internet crisis

Elon Musk, founder of SpaceX and CEO of Tesla, has been invited to attend the 53rd Pacific Island Leaders Meeting, scheduled from 26-30 August, 2024. The invitation reportedly comes from the Tongan government,

Read More

Tonga’s fibre optic cable repair underway despite ‘data glitch’

The Cable Ship Lodbrog located the northern end of Tonga’s damaged domestic fibre optic cable on Sunday and is now searching for the southern end attached to Tongatapu.  The repair is expected to be completed by this

Read More

Vava’u and Ha’apai communications services survive on backup satellites as cable awaits repair

Tonga’s local telephone and internet service providers, Tonga Telecommunications Corporation (TCC) and Digicel are using satellite links to restore their services to the two outer islands groups, with hopes that

Read More

Foreign Minister Wong announces new digital cable centre to limit China’s influence in Indo-Pacific

Australia is stepping up its attempts to limit China’s influence in the Pacific, with the establishment of a new “cable connectivity and resilience centre” designed to boost connectivity for Pacific nations. The

Read More

Tonga grants Starlink “provisional temporary permit” to offer local services

Starlink has been granted a “provisional temporary permit” to operate in Tonga, MEIDECC announced Friday, 19 July. This was in response to a “significant amount” of public concern after the Tonga government

Read More

Fiji takes “massive leap forward” with Starlink

Lightspeed Pacific’s Executive Chair, Richard Broadbridge, says Fiji has taken a “massive leap forward” in allowing Starlink services in the country. The company last week announced its official status as Fiji’s

Read More

Repair ship on its way, but Tongan internet users still struggling to stay connected

With a cable repair ship still nine days away from Tonga, internet customers in Vava’u and Ha’apai are struggling to keep connected. And customers have been warned that satellites may not be the answer, even as Elon

Read More

Vanuatu prime minister visits Huawei, views policing technology

Vanuatu Prime Minister Charlot Salwai visited technology company Huawei in Shenzhen and viewed surveillance technology used to enhance policing and reduce criminal activity, his office said in a statement on Tuesday.

Read More

Palau’s second submarine cable faces delay 

The activation of Palau’s second submarine cable connection, linking the island nation to the Echo Submarine Cable Project between Singapore and the United States, has been delayed.  The cable, originally slated for

Read More

The complexities of undersea cables

While outside actors may see undersea cable infrastructure through a lens of geopolitical competition, political leaders in the Pacific Islands region are geared towards providing digital connectivity to the islands, an

Read More

In the shadow of global challenges

Cybersecurity threats and governing generative AI are amongst the most pressing challenges facing telecommunications companies globally. While the rapid development of Artificial Intelligence (AI) characterises the

Read More

Cook Islands Bill to safeguard Manatua Cable passed with fines up to $250,000

A monetary fine will be imposed on anyone who breaches the Manatua Cable Protection Bill 2024 in Cook Islands. The bill, passed by Cook Islands Parliament last Thursday, safeguards the Manatua One Polynesian Cable from

Read More

Starlink is now live across Fiji

The SpaceX satcoms service Starlink is now live across the more than 300 islands in Fiji, marking, the company says, the 99th country, territory or market around the world where Starlink’s high-speed internet service

Read More

Government considering issuing Starlink a licence in Tonga

The Tonga Government is considering issuing Starlink a licence to offer broadband internet services in Tonga.  The Prime Minister Hu’akavameiliku Siaosi Sovaleni told a media briefing last week that Starlink had

Read More

Temporary ban on Starlink imports in Samoa

The Samoa Office of the Telecommunication Regulator (OOTR) temporarily banned the importation of Space X’s Starlink kits and Customs will seize any type of unit sighted at border control. Regulator, Lematua Gisa

Read More

SpaceX apply for license to operate in Samoa

Samoa’s digital landscape is soon to leapfrog if the government grants a license to Space Exploration Technologies Corp., commonly known as SpaceX, to operate in Samoa. This was confirmed by the Regulator, Lematua

Read More

Google to spend $1billion on enhancing subsea internet infrastructure in the Pacific

Google will invest US$1 billion to improve digital connectivity between the U.S. and Japan through two new subsea cables, the Alphabet-owned firm said on Wednesday amid a visit by the Japanese prime minister to boost

Read More

Cook Islands telecommunications regulator defends Starlink users

Cook Islands telecommunications regulator head Bernard Hill said regional regulators who are banning the use of Starlink might have an “overinflated view” of their importance. His comments come after reports in

Read More

Internet cost cheap says Samoa regulator

Samoa Telecommunication regulator, Lematua Gisa Purcell has maintained that the current internet price is cheaper compared to previous years and the network cost will drop again before the end of the year.  Lematua

Read More