March 17, 6:00am (NZ time)

CELL SITE RESTORATION WELL UNDERWAY ACROSS VANUATU

Service improving all the time; US$250,000 in free credit provided for Digicel customers

Monday March 16^th 2015 - Port Vila, Vanuatu: As recovery efforts commence in Vanuatu, Digicel has made good progress in restoring its network enabling customers to make and receive calls, text messages and emails. The Digicel network in Vanuatu’s capital, Port Vila, is almost fully restored and teams will soon now move to connect the rest of Efate, Tanna, Santo and the other islands.

The off-island fibre connectivity has been fully restored and bandwidth capacity over satellite has been increased by 500%, ensuring domestic towers have sufficient network capacity available.

Speaking from Vanuatu, Digicel Asia Pacific CEO, Michael Murphy, said; “We are deeply saddened by and concerned about the destruction caused by Cyclone Pam that hit Vanuatu on Friday and the devastation it has left behind. We know that at this time communications are of utmost importance as families and loved ones stay connected with those across the islands and abroad – and we are working tirelessly to enable customers to do so.

“With that, we have completely restored network connectivity in the capital, Port Vila, and are working with the Government and local companies to get technical staff to the outer islands so we can restore communications in as many locations as possible,” continued Murphy.

Public charging stations are being deployed across the islands so that customers can power their phones and Digicel is providing US$250,000 in free credit so that customers can get in touch with their loved ones as services are restored.

While Digicel’s technical teams from Fiji and Papua New Guinea are currently working remotely, charter planes and helicopters are being prepared for flight today. In addition, Huawei, SES and other key vendors have kindly donated technical resources and equipment to aid Digicel in its recovery efforts.

Updates of network and service availability are being communicated as they happen on Digicel Vanuatu’s Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/DigicelVanuatu