Minister for Telecommunications, Hon. Mose Pelasio officially launches Tokelau’s 4G network from Fakaofo. |
Minister for Telecommunications, Hon. Mose Pelasio in his keynote address to the nation said the milestone “brings us on par in the world of modern communications. “It is an enabler to unlock national developments on our lands and seas and I am honoured to have been part of the team that brought this to our people,” he told guests at the official launch event on Fakaofo. The event was broadcasted to the other two islands of Nukunonu and Atafu via video on multicast. “The 4G Mobile network is a modern Broadband ICT platform that was once a dream of our past generations is now made real by this generation.” |
Mobile phone towers now dominate the Tokelau atolls' skyline, such as here at Nukunonu. |
In March 2016, the first construction of towers foundations and related facilities took place on the islands by Telecom Pasifika Samoa. By November 2016, engineers from 4G mobile supplier Bluearcus Technologies Inc., began the installation and testing of the system. The other success factor of the initiative was the involvement and unanimous support from the three villages. “All three villages played major roles providing support to build the towers and shelters. Moving forward, we must shoulder together the burden of our nature, interact well at all levels with clean and pure hearts with better coordination and respecting our departments and Nuku boundaries. “What lies ahead is we need to reengineer a suitable ICT infrastructure on our lands, build a strong ICT capacity, continue to collaborate closely with New Zealand as the political mother of our national development, and more importantly, believe in ourselves that we can do anything holistically by upholding our cultural values. The show of unity and ownership during the project will be critical in the way forward, to keep the network relevant with the evolving technology and needs of Tokelau. “Our Board with the support of New Zealand through the Office of the Administrator of Tokelau has approved other major initiatives,” revealed Hon Pelasio. “The fibre optic cable on land is an ongoing discussion with interested vendors while the submarine fibre optic cable is presently under review between Teletok and Wellington.” Minister Pelasio paid special acknowledgement to the Board of Directors of Teletok, Council for the Ongoing Government, New Zealand government and the Office of the Administrator of Tokelau, Taupulega of the three villages, and Teletok. cultural values.” |