Satellite firm 'willing and able' to connect Tonga under disputed 2019 contract

Singaporean satellite broadband company Kacific says it is willing and able to help restore some communications to Tonga.

The wording of the offer suggests that could involve the Tongan government recognising a disputed contract that Kacific signed with a Tongan government-owned entity in 2019 following an earlier communications emergency.

A source believed the ground equipment Kacific might need to provide assistance was still mothballed in Tonga.

Phone and internet communications to Tonga were all but cut off when a volcano erupted on Saturday, breaking the fibre-optic cable connecting the main Tongan island of Tongatapu to Fiji, as well as a subsea link on Tonga’s domestic island network.

With repairs to the cables expected to take a matter of weeks, the immediate focus may go on improving satellite connections to the island.

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Jamaican company Digicel said on Sunday that its local mobile phone network on Tongatapu was operational and that it was working on getting satellite connectivity for its customers in essential services and government, but it had not provided an expected update by noon on Tuesday.

Kacific provided a satellite service to Tonga in 2019 when the Tonga Cable was previously cut by a ship anchor leaving the island largely cut off until a repair was made two weeks later.

But it is currently embroiled in a legal dispute with Tonga, claiming a Tongan government-owned company, Tonga Satellite, did not honour a US$5.7 million (NZ$8.5m) contract that it subsequently agreed to use its service as a back-up for 15 years and to provide connectivity to the nation’s outer islands.

The previous Tongan government said the contract was void as Tonga Satellite did not have the right to enter into the contract and that it was signed without Cabinet approval.

Tonga’s lord chief justice, Michael Whitten, ruled last year that Tonga Satellite should be reinstated to the Tongan company register, stating there was evidence it had been removed by the Tongan government for “the clear purpose” of frustrating arbitration of the dispute.

Kacific chief executive Christian Patouraux said on Tuesday that it was ready to provide “a full suite of satellite broadband services” to Tonga using its Kacific1 satellite positioned over Tonga, “under a Framework Services Agreement that was negotiated and signed by Tongan authorities in April 2019”, inviting it to “get in touch”.

“Kacific is willing and able to restore connectivity since a valid and signed agreement exists to that effect between the Government of Tonga and Kacific,” he said.

“All we need is to activate that service and perform that contract. We are now awaiting instructions. We have one simple message for the Government of Tonga. We can help.”

Kacific said in its statement that repairs to the Tonga Cable were likely to take “at least two weeks”, given the cable breaks were believed to be close to the undersea volcano, and there was a danger of further eruptions.

Tonga Cable chairman Samiuela Fonua indicated on Tuesday that the cable network was likely to take longer to repair than in 2019.

Tests suggest the international section of the cable has been cut 37 kilometres out to sea from the Tongan capital of Nuku'alofa and the ‘domestic’ section of the cable network linking the main island of Tongatapu to other islands in the archipelago had also been cut about 47km from Nuku'alofa.

Fonua, who was on holiday in New Zealand when the eruption occurred, said Tonga Cable was confident that the cable repair ship Reliance, owned by United States company SubCom and currently moored off Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea, could fix the cable.

The ship is being prepared to sail to Tonga.

It was “not a matter of how but when” repairs would be made, he said.

“Seismic activities are still pretty much active at the moment around the area and our domestic cable is well within the active volcanic zone.

“There is a possibility for the international segment to be repaired once the ship is cleared to enter the Tonga water – this is the cable that goes to Fiji and it's a bit further away from the active zone.

“I believe the assessment being carried out now and within the next couple of days may give us a better estimate of when to start the repair operation. So, we have to expect a longer wait this time,” he said.

SubCom spokeswoman Courtney McDaniel said it was mobilising Reliance “while evaluating crew and ship safety in the affected area”.

Fonua said he could not make much comment on satellite connectivity from Tonga.

“I know the local internet providers are making every effort to provide some services,” he said, but he cautioned they would “not be the same”.

He said he was aware of the dispute with Kacific but could not comment on it.