Tonga is being assisted to restore communications that can be used during natural disasters.

Work to install five VSAT's donated to Tonga by the International Telecommunication Union started last Wednesday, under a MEIDECC Communications Department project that “aims to assist the communications sector during a natural disaster crisis”, the Ministry said in a statement on Friday.

Tonga's fibre optic cable black-out has happened in the middle of the tropical cyclone season for the South Pacific.

The Ministry recognised the growing public demand for more internet capacity on Friday (Day 5) of Tonga's fibre optic cable blackout.

“The public are being advised to note that social media is filtered in order to speed up internet access,” the Ministry of Meteorology, Energy, Information, Disaster Management, Environment, Climate Change and Communications (MEIDECC)‚ stated.

“Relevant stakeholders are now working to increase the capacity of the internet to cater for the growing demand.”

The Ministry urged the public to use the internet wisely “to ensure the smooth running of the essential services.”

They said the cable repair ship was expected to arrive in Tonga this week after stakeholders confirmed the locations of the breakdown. “The duration of the repair will be established after the ship's arrival.”

In the meantime communications service providers including TCC, Digicel, EziNET, and Tonga Cable Ltd (TCL) in collaboration with MEIDECC are working to restore the internet through satellite connections to essential services.

So far it has been reported that internet connection has been restored to the international airport, money transfer services, airline companies, bank services and automated teller machines (ATMs).