Kacific to provide broadband services to Kiribati Government

Satellite operator’s fifth agreement with Pacific nations

People on all of the 33 islands and atolls of Kiribati will be able to enjoy high speed broadband services from 2017, thanks to an agreement their government has signed with Kacific Broadband Satellites. Under the multi-million dollar five year services agreement, Kacific will provide the islands with 150 Mbps of bandwidth increasing to 200 Mbps over the term of the contract. Kiribati will be able to increase bandwidth in bursts of up to 50 percent on demand. This agreement is the fifth that Kacific has signed since it announced its intention to provide a service in December 2013.

With a population of 100,000 people across 3.5 million square kilometres of islands and ocean, Kiribati is the 18th largest nation in the world in terms of its exclusive economic zone, with one of the most disseminated populations on the planet. That poses particular connectivity challenges: to date, only 6 percent of households have broadband and service is slow and expensive and it has not been economical to provide service to many of the remote islands.

Kacific will deploy four high power beams from its Ka-band High Throughput Satellite (HTS) to cover the entire population of Kiribati: two directed on the Gilbert Islands group, one on the Line Islands group and another on the raised coral island, Banaba.

Kacific’s solution is adapted to the Pacific nations and will be customised to Kiribati’s topology to ensure a reliable and affordable service with ample room to grow and expand. The service uses a very simple, validated and streamlined satellite technology so all islands in the group will receive equally outstanding service quality. Citizens, communities, enterprises and institutions will enjoy high throughput speeds using only a small (75cm to 1.2m diameter) inexpensive terminal.

The Hon. Rimeta Beniamina, Kiribati’s Minister of Communications, Transport and Tourism Development says that Kacific’s service is a good fit for island nations: “It is very important that we in the Pacific are not left behind in terms of connectivity. Kacific’s proposition and pricing, and speed of connectivity are ideal for the Pacific especially for providing service to outlying islands.”

Kiribati also plans to use Kacific’s satellite service in conjunction with its existing 3G / LTE mobile network, using the satellite service for backhaul.

“Kacific’s pledge is to provide an affordable, universally accessible national broadband service. We can do this where other technologies have struggled,” says Kacific CEO, Christian Patouraux. “There is today simply no alternative to Kacific’s proposed access, speed and affordability in the Pacific.“Using fully proven technologies Kacific will make a direct high-speed internet connection available to every government agency, institution, business and family in the footprint area. Wherever they live in the nation, the people of Kiribati will enjoy a broadband service equivalent to those in more densely populated nations.”

Kacific expects to launch its Kacific-1 satellite by early 2017 and to provide operational service shortly thereafter. From the moment the satellite is commissioned, all of Kiribati will be able to receive coverage using only a small, low cost dish antenna. Overnight every school, village, clinic, shop, business and dwelling in the country will have access to a fast, affordable, national broadband network.
Kacific Broadband Satellites Pte Ltd is a satellite operator developing a broadband offering for the underserved Pacific island market. It plans to address the gap in supply with a satellite, specifically designed for this market, that uses the latest multi-beam and high throughput space communications technology transmitting over the Ka Band.

Kacific’s target market comprises the islands of the Pacific, and the land masses of New Zealand, eastern Indonesia, Philippines and Papua New Guinea. It plans to provide satellite coverage to the majority of the island nations in Micronesia, Melanesia and Polynesia
Using cost-effective technology and a lean business model Kacific will provide better broadband quality throughout the Pacific at significantly less than current retail prices, fostering greater internet usage and fuelling economic growth and improvements in service delivery in the islands.
For further information visit www.kacific.com