SES and international mobile network operator Digicel have extended their partnership to provide the Kingdom of Tonga with long-term disaster resiliency to minimise bandwidth disruptions. Under the agreement, Digicel will benefit from SES’s expertise in offering disaster resiliency via SES’s O3b satellite constellation to deliver connectivity and protect the country’s population from future communication interruptions in the event of a natural disaster.
The archipelago has suffered two major connectivity disruptions in the last four years, the latest being the result of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano eruption and subsequent tsunami in January 2022 which severely damaged undersea communication links. As the damaged cable connecting the islands of Vava’u and Tongatapu undergoes repair, SES’s satellite service provides residents with connectivity. Once the cable is fully repaired, it will become a resiliency service to the main cable that connects the island to Tongatapu.