Steve Cullen: Why Vanuatu Needs Affordable Satellite Internet

In this blog post, Steve Cullen, Kacific’s Regional Director for Vanuatu, explains the importance of cheaper internet in the Pacific.

In 2014 I set foot on a remote Vanuatu island as a volunteer with the US Peace Corps to an almost non-existent digital connection to the outside world. Life on the island was simple but fulfilling in many ways – except for when it was time to send an email. Back then, walking for hours just to get some semblance of connectivity wasn’t unheard of, and even then, its stability wasn’t always guaranteed. At one point I walked for six hours just to make a phone call and even trekked up a mountain just to send one text email.

It all sounds unbelievable today, but this was the reality many in remote areas of Vanuatu had to live with on a daily basis. Like many islands dotted across the Pacific, Vanuatu is a mountainous region with many areas covered by tropical rainforests. Its islands are also spread out with often sparse populations, making the financial incentive to bring fiber connections there less apparent.

Unsurprisingly, whatever connection that was available, came at an extremely high cost. For business use, fees of up to USD$100 per month for speeds of 1 to 2 megabits per second are not uncommon. If I wanted 4 megabits per second, I’d expect to pay up to USD $400 a month. Such costs are well beyond the reach of many, thereby turning a vital, everyday tool into an unaffordable luxury.

Thanks to my experience with the US Peace Corps I’ve been able to get a first-hand perspective of the tangible difference that a reliable, affordable internet connection can make, not just for business and entertainment purposes, but also for educational and lifesaving ones too.

The impact of affordable satellite internet

Many things have happened in the six years since I arrived in Vanuatu, both personally and professionally. I became a dad for the first time and embarked on a new job. The data network in the capital city of Port Vila has also improved somewhat over the years, but many remote islands across Vanuatu’s archipelago still remain unconnected.

I joined Kacific because their mission of connecting underserved populations and enabling digital inclusion really resonated with me. As a Kacific employee, I am fortunate to have access to an easy to install 1.2m VSAT terminal which allows me to connect to the internet via Kacific1, our own satellite that was launched in December 2019. On this connection, I’ve been able to make business calls, connect with my colleagues in the 25 markets that we serve and increase my productivity overall. If this is the impact that a reliable internet connection has for me, imagine the life-changing impact it will have for those living in remote and underserved communities.

Kacific’s Vanuatu connection

Kacific presently supplies connectivity to the Vanuatu Interisland Telemedicine and Learning (VITAL) Network, which has connected remote schools in Vanuatu. The same VITAL Network connects clinics in remote communities and has already saved several lives in emergency situations by connecting nurses to specialist doctors in urban hospitals.  More recently, on a remote village of Maewo Island, Kacific’s broadband connection assisted a remote nurse in seeking lifesaving advice and hospital transport for a patient suffering from acute blood loss.

It has been said that the internet is like oxygen, once you have it, you can’t live without it. I believe this to be true, but we certainly don’t have to pay an arm and a leg for it.

With Kacific1, we now have an opportunity for a better connection at a fraction of the cost. And hopefully, the days of climbing up a mountain just to send one email will no longer be necessary.

See our Kacific services page for more information on mobile backhaul, trunking and wholesale bandwidth solutions for the Pacific.