[SatNews] Tokelauans on all three atolls will receive equally outstanding service quality and will be able to enjoy high throughput speeds...

Tokelau, composed of three small atolls situated north of Samoa, is a Polynesian territory of New Zealand with a population of just 1,400. There is no airport in Tokelau, and a chartered vessel MV PB Matua, operated under an arrangement between New Zealand and Tokelau, is the only means of transport to and from the islands at present: the trip from Apia in Samoa takes over a day. Despite its small size and remoteness, Tokelau is committed to thriving in a digital world. Although connectivity is expensive, the country has seen a pattern of moderate Internet usage in recent years and a rate of Internet penetration comparable to other, more populous Pacific countries.

Now with fast, low cost broadband from Kacific it will dramatically change the communication landscape of this territory. It will enable

• Affordable, direct-to-premises access to e-Government applications. provide better access to online resources for knowledge management and connectivity of assets including energy generation systems and transportation
• Provide high-speed broadband to passengers on-board the passenger vessels while en-route to and from Tokelau
• Improve the health, education and social wellbeing of Tokelauan communities
• Help improve monitoring of communicable diseases, enable remote diagnostics, and support training and e-health campaigns
• Primary and secondary students and their teachers will be able to access distance learning and curriculum resources from New Zealand 
• Tokelauans will be able to communicate better with family members who have gone overseas to live.
• For the first time, all Tokelauans will be able to access television services.

“When we designed our service we had in mind the need for it to be easily adapted to meet the needs of small, isolated, sparsely populated countries like Tokelau,” says Kacific CEO, Christian Patouraux. “Tokelau is a text-book case for Kacific: the agreement with Teletok validates our approach, so we’re delighted.”

“The provision of affordable, accessible low-cost, high-speed broadband will enable Tokelau to make significant and rapid progress in key policy areas including good governance and the development of our people, infrastructure and economy,” says Tealofi Enosa, CEO of Teletok. “By supporting these four priority development goals of the Tokelau National Strategic Plan, it will fundamentally change every aspect of life in Tokelau.”

Kacific will deploy a single high power beam from its Ka-band High Throughput Satellite (HTS) to cover the three atolls. And will provide sufficient capacity to ensure a reliable and affordable service with ample room to grow and expand.

Tokelauans on all three atolls will receive equally outstanding service quality and will be able to enjoy high throughput speeds using only small (75cm to 1.2m diameter) inexpensive terminals.

Kacific expects to launch its Kacific-1 satellite by early 2017 and to provide operational service shortly thereafter.

This agreement is the sixth that Kacific has signed since it announced its intention to provide a satellite-based broadband service, in December 2013.

For additional information, please visit http://www.kacific.com/