Telecom Putting $80m into High-speed Fibre

Telecom Fiji plans to invest over $180 million in Fibre infrastructure over the next 5 years in a bid to keep Fijians technologically on par with the rest of the world.

Phase one of the work will commence from next month along the 48km Deuba to Korolevu stretch, where Telecom is replacing its old cables along the entire route with new fibre optic cables capable of supporting over 100Gbit/s of transmission capacity, costing approximately $6 million.

“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 chief executive officer Charles Goundar.

“Being a 100 per cent 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, means more employment for Fijians.”

Importance of investing in technology

Mr Goundar said COVID-19 taught the importance of investing in technology. “During the COVID-19 lockdowns, thousands of Fijians relied on our services to work, get COVID-19 updates to keep safe, communicate with friends and family, shop and keep themselves entertained at home,” he said.

“We are seeing an accelerating shift to a digital world - further accelerated by the pandemic.

“During the lockdown, we were forced to adapt to new ways of working, new methods to engage with customers, our staff, and the community, all the while ensuring everyone involved remained safe.

“As part of Telecom’s digital transformation strategy, we also plan to introduce better and more flexible data plans for our customers,” Mr Goundar said.

Telecom’s investment and upgrade plans extend further than just hardware and network upgrades, with other initiatives aimed at empowering Fijians in these difficult times.Mr Goundar praised the 2020-2021 Fijian National Budget for incentives such as the removal of the data levy, which would greatly help the telecommunications industry during COVID-19.

“Our broadband customers can expect enhancements to their existing broadband plans to be introduced in the near future,” he said.

Telecom is also expanding 4G network coverage within the next six months, enabling high-speed internet access over the advanced LTE network, which runs on the dual spectrum – APT700MHz and 1800Mhz frequency bands - giving better performance and bandwidth throughput.

Roll out

The rollout of fiber-to-the-home technology into residential and business areas should cover all key central business areas in major towns and cities over the next three years.

Over 5000 homes in Suva and Lautoka are already Fiber-ready, meaning they are ready to be connected to Telecom’s Fiber broadband service in these areas.

Fiber expansion into other areas will also enable mobile operators to expand their services into those areas, and offer improved services in areas where they might be facing challenges due to limited capacity on their microwave transmission links.