Nabilah Safira
TechInPacific – Telecom Fiji is investing $180 Mn to work on Fijian’s high-speed fiber infrastructure. The investment is part of the company’s goal to develop relevant technology to complete with the rest of the world, notably for the next five years.
“In this age of information and global connectivity, we as a country need to have a robust and future-proof infrastructure that allows us to keep up with the rest of the world and ensure that we as Fijians and our future generations to come are not left behind,” said Telecom CEO, Charles Goundar.
According to Goundar, the imposed lockdown have made thousands of Fijians relied on their services to work, get COVID-19 updates, communicate with friends and family, and that acceleration shift to a digital world forced them to adapt to new ways of working, new methods to engage with customers, staff, and the community while ensuring everyone’s safety. And thus, he also sees technology investment as an importance in the current era.
The fiber development project will begin next month in Phase 1 starting from 48 km Deuba to Korolevu stretch. The new fiber-optic cables that will replace the current cables in the entire route can support more than 100Gbit/s of transmission capacity, or 6 Mn.
The company also plans to introduce more data plans that extend beyond hardware and network upgrades that could ‘empower Fijians in these difficult times’.
“Our broadband customers can expect enhancements to their existing broadband plans to be introduced in the near future,” Goundar said.
The fiber expansion is targeted for residential and business areas in the major cities for the next three years, with the 4G network coverage to expand within six months that runs on both APT700MHz and 1800 MHz spectrum bands, allowing better output of overall performance and bandwidth.
An exception made to 5000 homes in Suva and Lautoka which already fiber-equipped, and that means they can be connected easily with the company’s broadband services.
“Being a 100% Fijian owned company, we have always believed in investing back into our people and we remain committed to empowering all Fijians regardless of their location and background – which our ultra-fast and high capacity network will enable.”
“This investment will not only benefit Fijians by giving us accessibility to high-speed internet but also generate hundreds of jobs in the process. Contractors will be needed to lay the Fibre optic cables and this, of course, this means more employment for Fijians.”
Source: Telecom Fiji
