Key Facts 1. Overview of Internet Access in Tonga 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…
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Current State of Samoa’s Internet Infrastructure Samoa’s internet infrastructure has transformed significantly in the past decade. The backbone of connectivity is now fiber-optic submarine cables. The first major cable, Tui-Samoa, went live in 2018, linking Samoa to Suva, Fiji (with branching units to Wallis & Futuna and Samoa’s second island, Savai’i) ssccsamoa.com ssccsamoa.com. This cable…
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Massive Outages and Network Disruptions On September 6, a sudden multi-cable break in the Red Sea sent shockwaves through global connectivity. Several undersea fiber-optic cables (including the SMW4 and IMEWE systems) were simultaneously cut near Jeddah, Saudi Arabia beaumontenterprise.com. The impact was felt across continents – internet traffic between Europe/Asia and the Middle East slowed…
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Overview of Internet Access in Togo Togo is a small West African nation making significant strides in digital connectivity. Internet usage has grown steadily over the past decade. By January 2024, 3.44 million Togolese were Internet users, about 37.6% of the population datareportal.com. This marks a substantial increase from just a few years prior (for…
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Major Outages and Internet Shutdowns Widespread outages disrupted internet access across multiple regions in recent days. In the United States, a major Verizon network failure on August 30 underscored the fragility of even advanced telecom systems ts2.tech. Starting around midday on the 30th, Verizon wireless customers from California to New York suddenly found their phones…
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Key Facts Fixed Broadband Internet Access Saint Vincent and the Grenadines has seen a dramatic leap in fixed broadband availability and speeds in recent years. The country’s two main Internet Service Providers – Flow (the incumbent, formerly Cable & Wireless) and Digicel – now deliver broadband via hybrid fiber-coaxial cable networks and fiber-to-the-home (FTTH), respectively.…
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Overview: Current Internet Infrastructure and Access in Tuvalu Tuvalu is a Polynesian microstate of about 10,000 people spread across nine coral atolls. Until recently, its internet infrastructure consisted solely of satellite links – there were no subsea fiber cables, and even regional microwave links to neighbors were absent due to the vast ocean distances. All…
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Introduction Mali, a large landlocked nation in West Africa, is undergoing a digital transformation against challenging odds. Internet access has grown from almost zero at the turn of the century to reaching roughly a third of the population today extensia.tech. This expansion is driven primarily by mobile phones, as fixed broadband infrastructure is scarce developingtelecoms.com.…
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Key Facts: Infrastructure and Connectivity Projects Satellite broadband saw major gains. SpaceX’s August 29 launch of 24 Starlink satellites into polar orbit—its fourth California launch that month—aims to blanket high-latitude regions (Alaska, Scandinavia, Antarctica) with low-latency internet. As Spaceflight Now reported, “SpaceX launched 24 Starlink broadband satellites… as it rolls out the service to more…
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Overview of Internet Infrastructure (Fixed, Mobile, Fiber & More) Trinidad and Tobago’s internet infrastructure is a mix of modern fiber-optic networks, cable systems, wireless technologies, and mobile broadband. On the fixed broadband side, connectivity is delivered via several technologies: On the mobile side, Trinidad and Tobago is thoroughly covered by 3G/4G mobile data networks: Below…
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