Lightning-Fast Internet Finally Arrives in Tonga’s Far-Flung Islands? A Deep Dive into Tonga’s Connectivity Boom and Challenges
Tonga – a Polynesian kingdom of over 170 islands – has seen dramatic improvements in internet connectivity over the past decade. Prior to 2013, Tonga’s internet was limited to expensive, slow satellite links, resulting in low penetration and high costs. This changed when the nation’s first submarine fiber-optic cable went live in August 2013, delivering affordable high-speed internet to Tongans “for the first time ever” worldbank.org. The 827 km Tonga Cable connects Nuku’alofa to Fiji, where it links into global networks worldbank.org. This milestone was heralded as “the beginning of a new era” for Tonga, promising faster speeds and more affordable prices for the 100,000 population worldbank.org worldbank.org. Indeed, in the years after the cable’s arrival, internet uptake surged: by 2021, about 57% of Tongans were online pulse.internetsociety.org pulse.internetsociety.org. Today, Tonga’s internet access is a mix of terrestrial broadband and satellite connectivity. The vast majority of users get online via mobile networks, as fixed-line broadband infrastructure is limited. The country’s two mobile operators, Digicel and TCC, provide coverage to all inhabited islands, reaching 95% of the population with at least 4G service pulse.internetsociety.org. Public WiFi hotspots and ADSL fixed broadband exist on Tongatapu, but mobile data is by far the
