Bridging the digital divide in Tonga through a sustainable multi-tenancy broadband infrastructure: Are we ready?

Abstract

The digital divide refers to the gap between those who have access to modern information and communications technology (ICT) and those who do not or have constrained access. This technology could include telephones, television, computers and the Internet. The arrival of high-speed Internet connectivity to the Kingdom of Tonga continues to bring opportunities such as business growth and jobs creation; however, there is also a growing digital divide affecting the country and other regions of the world. These motivate us to debate and seek the best way to reduce the divide in Tonga. Much of the research on this area focuses on the accessibility to the technologies, while some works have addressed the inequality in the ability and skills to use the technology. Motivated by the United Nations' sustainable development goals (SDGs), especially Goal 9 on Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure and Goal 10 on Reduced Inequalities, we examine both perspectives of digital divide in Tonga. Moreover, we introduce the most recent broadband technologies and discuss their potential to enable Tonga's digital transformation from the perspectives of reliability, security and affordability. We then envision a sustainable multi-tenancy broadband infrastructure to integrate various access technologies in order to offer multi-services, which can best accommodate Tongan's various ICT needs according to their different geographical and socio-economic characteristics. This paper intends to contribute to the current debate, and stimulate further discussion and research on reducing the digital divide in Tonga.