Kacific rescues Solomon Islands outage
June 20, 2023
By Chris Forrester
After the disruption of Solomon Islands’ domestic undersea submarine cable links, Kacific Broadband Satellites Group and Solomon Telekom Company Limited (STCL) have collaborated to reinstate nationwide internet services.
Kacific reinforced its existing partnership with STCL by swiftly restoring connectivity to affected customers after damage to the nation’s domestic undersea submarine cable links operated by the Solomon Islands Submarine Cable Company.
Solomon Islands’ internet submarine cable was damaged on May 10th when a foreign-flagged vessel dropped its anchor on it, impacting telecommunications services in the provincial centres of Auki on Malaita, Noro in Western Province, and Taro in Choiseul Province. Kacific, the first provider to respond, offered support within two days after the incident and delivered additional temporary satellite capacity to enable broadband, mobile and landline services for a significant portion of the country.
Kacific swiftly set up the necessary infrastructure and provided the island nation with a digital lifeline through a short-term satellite connectivity solution of 600Mb/s on its Kacific1 satellite. Kacific’s solution demonstrated how satellite communication offers a reliable backup alternative when fibre optic cables are damaged or unavailable, ensuring continuity of service accessibility, speed, and affordability.
“Our technical teams have been working tirelessly to restore the services, and we have made significant progress,” said Christina Lasaqa, CEO at STCL. “However, as repairs are expected to take six to eight weeks, the urgency of the situation required immediate action, and we are grateful for Kacific’s responsive support. Thanks to Kacific’s readiness to support and their rapid deployment of terminals, we can ensure that our customers have access to essential services during this challenging period.”