Tiny island becomes first free wireless nation

Johannesburg, 01 Jul 2003

While SA is still struggling with the various pieces of legislation that affect true wireless roll-out, a tiny country in the South Pacific has become the world`s first true wireless nation.

The island of Niue, with a population of less than 2 000, is the world`s smallest independent self-governed nation and has - thanks to the Internet Users Society of Niue - launched the world`s first free nationwide WiFi Internet access service.

This new free wireless service, which can be accessed by all Niue residents, tourists, government offices and business travellers, is being provided at no cost to the public or local government.

"WiFi is the perfect fit for the island of Niue, where harsh weather conditions of rain, lightning, salt water and high humidity cause major problems with underground copper lines," says Richard St Clair, co-founder and technical manager at the society.

He says that as a substantial portion of Niue`s tourism comes from visiting yacht traffic during the non-cyclone season, the WiFi coverage will hopefully create an even more attractive proposition for visitors.

Yachts with onboard computer equipment, WiFi cards and external antennas will be able to park in the harbour and access full Internet services from their vessels, free of charge.

Other visitors, consultants and tourists to the island who carry laptops with either built-in WiFi or as an add-on, will also have the ability to connect to the open node free of charge for the duration of their stay.

Since the society first introduced free e-mail services to Niue in 1997 and subsequently launched free full Internet access services for the island in 1999, new technologies have been under development for Niue`s local Internet community.

St Clair says that in a short space of time, Niue has become an extremely diverse communications technology home, and that with continued investment by the society, Niue will be the future home of even more diverse technologies.