Pacific / Tonga

Tongans urged to stop using social media

10:30 am on 28 January 2019

There is a call for Tongans to stop trying to use social media so essential services can stay connected.

Photo: pexels

While Tonga has partially restored phone and internet services after the cutting of two cables a week ago, capacity is just a fraction of what was previously available.

A director of Tonga Cable Ltd, Paul Piukala, said a ship is due later today or tomorrow at the site near Tongatapu where the breaks occurred and he hopes the severed cables can be repaired in a week.

Mr Piukala said access could now be blocked to social media users.

"If it comes down to blocking, temporary blocking of those services - and [allowing] only critical services for government transactions, and banking transactions and airline transactions and stuff like that."

He drew an analogy to someone on a desert island wanting an ice cream.

"To allow essential services, like I say it doesn't really make sense to anybody to be stranded and harping about having an ice cream."