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Prime Minister Huakahuameliku told reporters in Nuku’alofa that despite the current crisis in internet communications, “Starlink has been informed that they do not have a licence and therefore all terminals should be disabled”.
Since the June 29 earthquake damaged domestic cables to Vava’u and Haapai, the government is still waiting for “an undersea cable repair vessel to arrive … to conduct a physical inspection of the damage.”
However, businesses on the outer islands that rely on internet communications have complained that they may Closure Due to the communication crisis.
Darren Rice, owner of the Ha’apai resort, which relies entirely on satellite service, told news reporters: “When Starlink is down, without internet, we can’t call for help, we don’t know when the storm is coming, we don’t know if there is a tsunami warning, we can’t call the hospital or the fire truck.”
Starlink notified its users in Tonga on July 10 that the Tongan regulator had directed them to disable the internet service it provides to its users.
“We understand the inconvenience this has caused, but at the same time we cannot throw the law aside just because the internet is slow,” the prime minister told reporters.
The prime minister said. “We are looking at moving fast to get a license for Starlink. Whether they want to partner with Digicel or TCC or just run it themselves.”
What’s puzzling about the ban is that the Prime Minister’s Office began using Starlink during the last internet outage in January 2022 caused by the eruption of the Hunga-Tonga Hunga-Ha’apai volcano and subsequent tsunami.
Elon Musk of Starlink donated 50 sets of equipment for use in Tonga at the time because it would take a long time to restore the cable. Some people ask, “Why didn’t the government issue a license to Starlink at the time?” Is the government operating Starlink illegally in 2022?
Private users purchased Starlink kits and registered them overseas to achieve global roaming, and then imported them to Tonga for use.
The kits have been in high demand since the country’s undersea fiber-optic cables were cut for the third time, plunging the outer islands into digital darkness.
It is worth noting that Tonga Cable, the local company that owns the fibre optic cable, is co-owned by the government and has joint stakes with two internet providers, TCC (government-owned) and Digicel (privately owned).
But the prime minister said “how quickly Starlink can get the license depends a lot on Starlink itself.” He said the company needs Completion requirements Regulators’ demand for local investment.
Meanwhile, a petition calling for Tonga to be allowed access to Starlink from July 10 has gathered more than 1,000 signatures.
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