Vanuatu cable launch delayed

It appears that not all is well with Vanuatu’s first submarine fibre-optic cable, joining Vanuatu to Fiji. The official launch ceremony was slated for January 17^th, but it didn’t happen. Staff from Interchange, the company that operates the cable, claimed that the service was live on the 16^th. That claim was denied by others. As of the 17^th, Interchange’s only client was the government of Vanuatu. Local ISPs insist nonetheless that they are ‘happy and optimistic’ about where things stand right now, and that any uncertainties will be resolved in short order.

Until now, Vanuatu has been limited to satellite data services costing thousands of dollars per megabit.

This article was written by

Dan McGarry

http://www.imagicity.com

Dan McGarry is chief technologist at the Pacific Insititute of Public Policy. He has worked in the Pacific for over a decade now, assisting in numerous capacities in the development of ICTs in Vanuatu and the Pacific. He has extensive experience in technology policy formulation and implementation as well as in traditional and new media. He still writes software.

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