The government of Tonga announced Elon Musk’s SpaceX has donated 50 very-small-aperture terminals (VSAT) to help the South Pacific kingdom re-establish telecommunications connectivity with the world after underwater volcanic eruption and a tsunami on Jan. 15 severed its underwater fiber optic cable.
What Happened
According to a report from the Matangi Tonga Online news site, Prime Minister Siaosi Sovaleni confirmed the donation by the Tesla chief executive.“They are sending over 50 terminals and we are looking at how we can best utilize it,” Sovaleni said, adding that his government was exploring strategies for increasing local internet capacity, which has been burdened with minimal bandwidth since the cable was broken.
