Niue Rocks the Pacific!!!!!

FREE WIRELESS NETWORK RESHAPES LIVES IN NIUE

By Ashley Gopal and Sallyshni Devi

SUVA, Fiji (Wansolwara, Aug. 26) - Thanks to International Communication Technology (ICT), remote nations are not so remote anymore.

The introduction of free, wireless Internet services to all residents in the tiny Polynesian nation of Niue is reshaping lives on the tiny island of approximately 1,500 residents.

The vice chairman of South Pacific Internet Services, Franck Martin, says that access to the Internet has made everyday life for Niueans easier.

"ICTs are crucial to improving the quality of life and to drive growth in the whole economy," Martin said. "Free wireless Internet had a vast impact on development in government sectors and poverty reduction. People waited for days to talk to their families and loved ones abroad as there were defaults in the telephone and fax lines. But with free Internet services, they can get in touch with them in seconds."

Niue is located 2,400 kilometers northeast of New Zealand, on the eastern side of the International dateline. With a landmass of 259 square kilometers and 13 villages on the island, Niue is the world’s smallest independent self-governed nation. And it has become the first Pacific Island country to get a free nationwide wireless Internet service.

A resident of Alofi, Niue, Jacquiline Mitimeti, currently studying at the University of the South Pacific in Suva, said communication has become easier since the introduction of free Internet in Niue.

"Because of the free, 24-hour Internet access, I can communicate with my friends and relatives whereas I would have been spending a lot of money calling them," said the accounting and financial management student.

She added that she could attach photos in e-mails and also purchase goods not available in Niue online.

Martin said that ICTs had made the exchange of data very fast and efficient, which was very beneficial for all government departments.

He said the services were supplied by the Niue Internet Users Society, which employs the same radio technology used for the numerous wireless networks springing up around Europe.

The Wi-Fi uses radio technology to send data over the airwaves thus removing the need for computer cables. It has become an excellent device for the people of Niue.

"Huge problems to the underground copper lines were caused by bad weather conditions such as rain, lightening, salt water, and high humidity that damaged the cables," said Martin.

However the Wi-Fi has become an excellent tool for the South Pacific Island by removing the need for computer cables.

hardnose---Yes, this is very good for the people of Niue, especially Crossie, who occasionally contributes to this TT. He is a great artist, with showings in NZ, etc.

But the reason for this is really a quirk of language and internet-domain top-level assignments. The two-letter code for Niue that was assigned by the int'l body that does these things is: ".nu"

Apparently one of the conditions when the country gave the .nu to the group handling it, was that all locals would get free internet access. The administrators of the ".nu" now make a lot of money, since a lot of overseas news organizations---newspapers, etc.---have bought into the system. So, it's a relatively small cost to give internet access to the locals---but a great idea, as you indicated!!

An even bigger windfall was to the country of Tuvalu, which was assigned the two-letter top-level domain of ".tv" The country---which has almost a third-world economy---is now making millions by selling this tag to TV stations all around the world!!!! [ Check out, for example, "www.tnt.tv" ]

In the Cooks, we were assigned ".ck" And if one has a business in the Cooks, the last four letters are always ".co.ck" . Some of us thought of farming out these endings to the porn industry, but it never really materialized :)

I'm pretty thick... I never even put that co.ck together in that context!! blushes

Yes, good on ya, Niue. I know when I was there, I had used the dial-up to access the internet... Painfully slow and painfully expensive.

And speaking of Crossie, I have not seen the likes of him on here for a long, long time.

Does anyone have any word?

Raro,

I think the Cooks have largely missed out on the porn market. From what I have "heard", many of these operators have sttled for .tv (I'm not sure how that fits with the consciences of Tuvaluans, but I guess there are limited alternative sources of income!)

Last I heard from Crossie was a couple of weeks ago - he was in Lhasa I think. Perhaps he's playing with the people on that Board ATM?

Cheers,

Rob

Why didn't this report come out before Raro's quiz? Now that I know where Alofi is , I would have scored better. Now I just need the answers to the other 4 I didn't know!

This is brilliant and should be extended to other small Pacific nations. Maybe this could be paid for by the Australian and/or NZ governments. I wont hold my breath waiting, but it would be a great way to deliver aid.

Bendigo---actually Telecom CI, owned by Telecom NZ, has long been cashing in on porn market. They have farmed out their 682 country code to phone sex companies for the past several years! It's a different two-number prefix after the 682, but all of us have occasionally gotten people who were expecting to have a phone sex chat, when they dialed the wrong number!

When this hit the newspaper a few yrs ago the churches started protesting, but soon quieted down when Telecom told them it helped to keep the cost of local phone serve low. so much for principles!

Raro,

The most important thing about strongly held principles is not to give them up too cheaply!

Rob

I would guess that about half the churchgoers in the CICC in the Cooks don't begin to have the principles they supposedly espouse. To that group it's mainly just a social thing. For many of these hypocrits (sp?), it's go to church Sunday, then cheat on their spouses, cheat in business or as employees, or do lots of other non-church-type things the other six days of the week.