It will take at least a month to repair an undersea communication cable linking the Tonga islands – devastated by an eruption and a tsunami – to the rest of the world, the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Wednesday January 19. “US cable company SubCom says it will take at least four weeks for Tonga’s connection to be restored”, the ministry said in an update on the disaster, which cut off the small Pacific nation from the rest of the world.
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What little communication there has been since has been possible through a few satellite phones, mostly held by foreign embassies in the capital Nuku’alofa.
According to the company, there are two separate breaks in the cable, one located 37 km offshore and the other is a local cable close to the volcano, which makes it difficult to repair. A repair vessel is currently en route from neighboring Papua New Guinea.
Mobile operator Digicel has restored some basic 2G domestic services, but has warned that restoring international calls may still be a long time away.
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The operator Kacific, embroiled in a contractual dispute with the government of Tonga, was approached. “We have not yet had any contact with the government to discuss our service”, told AFP Christian Patouraux, managing director of Kacific.
The World Health Organization (WHO) said in a statement on Tuesday that its liaison officer in Tonga, Yutaro Setoya, is responsible for communication between UN agencies and the local government.