“First Post On Facebook Since…”: Tonga Reconnects To World After Tsunami – NDTV.com

Tonga Volcano Eruption: Tongans have struggled with makeshift satellite services.Sydney: Tonga was reconnected to the world on Tuesday following repairs to a submarine cable, officials said, a month after a volcanic eruption and tsunami cut communications to the remote Pacific island nation.”People on the main island will have access almost immediately,” Tonga Cable chief executive James Panuve told Reuters by telephone, after a repair ship handed over the restored cable on Tuesday afternoon.School chaplain Penisimani Akauola Tonga was among those getting back online for the first time since the disaster struck the tiny island nation in mid January.”First post on Facebook since January 15th! So Blessed for the opportunity! Malo Tonga Cable & Tonga Government!” he wrote.Tongans have struggled with makeshift satellite services as the repairs to the cable were made.The repair ship Reliance took 20 days to replace a 92-kilometre (57-mile) section of the 827 km submarine fibre optice cable that connects Tonga to Fiji and other international networks.Panuve thanked telecommunications companies in neighbouring Pacific islands, particularly New Caledonia, which provided lengths of cable when Tonga ran out.The next job would be to repair the domestic cable connecting the main island of Tongatapu with outlying islands that were worst…
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