HM King Tupou VI officially launched the UCall Mobile Network for Niuafo‘ou on August 7 at a ceremony held at ‘Esia, Niuafo‘ou.

Rizvi Jurangpathy, acting Chief Executive Officer of the Tonga Communication Corporation (TCC) said that the mobile service now covered all of Tonga's small remote islands. The Niuafo'ou mobile network services are an addition to the TCC fixed lines already there.

TCC, a state owned company, is the only communications service provider for the remote island groups in the Kingdom, including Niuafo‘ou, Niuatoputapu, Nomuka and Ha‘afeva.

Rizvi said that the services in Ha'apai would be further expanded this year to Ha‘ano and Uiha.

Aloma Johansson, chairperson of TCC and the Board of Directors, in a statement said that TCC is successfully working its way towards total nationwide connectivity, with affordable charges. “It is TCC’s vision and commitment that the people of Tonga will enjoy the benefits of state of the art communication technology. It is a challenge not to compromise service and profitability, but TCC is succeeding.

“TCC took the lead in successfully introducing High Speed Broadband Internet with its Fiber Optic Submarine Cable, introduced fiber optic domestic network, 3G mobile and ADSL 2+ broadband internet. Whilst achieving these milestones, TCC has been able to improve profitability and also contribute dividends to the Government of Tonga. TCC supplements its market leading position in terms of coverage with a robust footprint and market presence in the entire kingdom of Tonga,” said the statement.

Attending the mobile network launch in Niuafo‘ou were Sione Veikoso (Manager Engineer), Malakai Vaka (Niuafo‘ou Branch Supervisor) and the Niuafo‘ou staff.