Two telecom providers compete in the mobile market [1]
Friday, August 30, 2002 - 10:00. Updated on Wednesday, February 10, 2016 - 14:44.
From Matangi Tonga Magazine Vol. 17, no. 2, August 2002.
When a new mobile phone provider, Tonfön (Shoreline Communications) launched its telephone service on July 31, Tonga became the only Pacific island country to allow two competing telecommunications companies.
Tonfön is a new-comer who is claiming that Tonga is now the first in the world to use the smart third generation Sim Card in its GSM mobile phone service. And soon, Tonga would be the first Pacific island country to transmit voice, data, television and broad band service over internet protocol, HRH Crown Prince Tupouto‘a, Chairman of Shoreline Communications, said at the launching of the voice service.
Soane Ramanlal the CEO for Tonfön said that their full national telecommunications services, would be in operation by September 1.
Their company wanted the mobile phone to be the means of communication for the people of Tonga, “it is affordable, versatile, and through the mobile they can communicate locally and internationally. It is one of the fundamental rights of every Tongan to have access to an affordable and reliable communication service,” he said.
Although the two telephone companies Tonfön and Tonga Communications Corporation have stated that their services would compliment each other, in reality, the process of configuring a system to enable consumers to communicate using both systems has not yet happened.
This has frustrated Tonfön which, despite its powerful Sim Cards and cheap rate, cannot tap into the existing mobile phone market that has been established by TCC’s U-Call service. Tonfön is blaming the TCC for being slow in reconfiguring their system, but TCC is saying that they were not given enough time before Tonfön launched its service.
Interestingly, the Tonga Telecommunications Corporation is chaired by the Prime Minister Prince ‘Ulukalala Lavaka Ata, while Tonfön is chaired by his brother, the Crown Prince Tupouto‘a.
After Tonfön launched its new service on July 31, with a champagne breakfast for about 300 guests and an announcement of rates, which Soane described as “ridiculously low”, the TCC also announced new rates.
Taiatu ‘Ata‘ata Cocker, the Manager Commercial for TCC, said that starting on August 1 telephone rates from the outer islands to Tongatapu would drop from 35 seniti to 12 seniti per minute. “Our U-Call mobile service has also been upgraded and 60 callers may now use the service at any one time,” she said.
To further boost the U-Call service Taiatu said that a new base station would be built at Liahona by October. “Repeaters will be installed in areas where there are ‘black spots’ which break the continuity of our service.”
Taiatu said that more base stations and repeaters in future would be established to further enhance their service.