Digicel Pacific and O3b Networks bring 4G/LTE Connectivity to Remote Micronesian Island of Nauru

The Republic of Nauru is the smallest state in the South Pacific, with approximately 10,000 residents populating a 21 square kilometre area. With its closest neighbour settled nearly 300 kilometres to the East, Nauru is incredibly remote and far beyond the reach of traditional fiber connectivity. Digicel Pacific has been providing connectivity over the O3b satellite-enabled network to the island since January 2015, and has since upgraded its bandwidth by 108.6% over a series of three upgrades.

With this boost in O3b’s connectivity service, Digicel Pacific has deployed 4G/LTE mobile services, supporting the island of Nauru in driving significant economic and social development through enhanced mobile services. The high-throughput, low-latency connectivity provided by O3b’s constellation of Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) satellites will give Nauru residents the fast and reliable mobile data experience needed to join an increasingly digitized international community.

As Digicel Pacific has increased its capacity throughout the region, there have been significant increases in data usage, business growth, e-learning and e-health opportunities. The prevalence of 4G/LTE connectivity on Nauru will accelerate that progress, supporting the development of Nauru by allowing island residents to participate in the global economy and connect with distant friends and loved ones with the same ease they would find in a major metropolitan city.

“Digicel and O3b have a long history of working together to develop and deploy cutting edge solutions for customers in the Asia Pacific region,” said Imran Malik, VP of Asia and the Middle East, O3b Networks. “This improvement in mobile services for Nauru will be a catalyst for overall development on the island.”

“At Digicel we pride ourselves on offering our customers best-in-class services, and that’s what they’re getting with 4G/LTE connectivity,” said Yvonne Steele, Digicel Regional CEO. “We have been able to upgrade with O3b three times because of the extraordinary adoption and increase in data usage we’ve seen throughout the region so far. Residents of Nauru and island nations throughout the Pacific are eager to take advantage of global innovations, and we are proud to connect them with those opportunities.”