Musk’s Starlink Connects Remote Tonga Villages Still Cut Off After Tsunami

A general view shows damaged buildings and landscape covered with ash following the volcanic eruption and tsunami in Kanokupolu, Tonga, on Jan. 23, 2022. Tonga Red Cross Society/Handout via Reuters

SYDNEY—Elon Musk’s satellite venture has launched a free high-speed internet service to connect remote villages in Tonga that have been cut off since a devastating volcanic eruption and tsunami in January.

Tonga’s prime minister, Siaosi Sovaleni, said in a ceremony on Wednesday in the capital, Nuku'alofa, that 50 VSAT terminals provided free of charge by Musk’s SpaceX would be distributed to the outlying islands worst hit by the tsunami.