Page 29 - IB December 2021

KACIFIC: Listening, learning, evolving Fiji

Kacific Satellite Technologies listens to its customers. And when those
customers are based in some of the Pacific island region’s most remote areas,
Kacific’s efforts to improve connectivity and meet their communications needs
is saving Pacific lives.
For example, at Abwatuntora Mauna Health Centre—where there has been
no mobile network for over 40 years—a Kacific VSAT (Very Small Aperture
Terminal) installed in January enabled Nurse Nicholas Bage to videoconference
with a midwife at another clinic, to get guidance on how to safely deliver a
complicated birth. In Papua New Guinea, VSATs and solar equipment has been
installed at 30 rural health facilities, connecting community health workers GigWiFi
to on-call doctors. In western Santo island, Vanuatu, women are using VSAT Kacific’s GigWiFi is a marriage of its GigStarter broadband plans and WiFi.
to photograph their woven baskets, arrange payments and sell their products The entry-level terminal consists of a new, low-power, high-throughput
locally and to neighbouring countries. modem, paired with a transceiver, and the 1.2m VSAT antenna.
“The underlying principle of Kacific’s business is providing fast affordable Installation is a simple ‘point and play’ process and the set up supports
broadband to under-served areas,” said Christian Patouraux, Kacific’s Chief Internet/intranet access, VoIP and multi-casting services over Kacific’s Ka-
Executive Officer. band network. The modem is compact and light, easy to set up, is energy
Kacific’s high-throughput Ka-band satellite, Kacific1, is fostering greater efficient and suitable in all weather conditions.
internet usage, fueling economic growth and improvements in service delivery The product has been a long time in development and testing, says Member service at FNPF HQ, Suva at the height of COVID-19 Viliame Vodonaivalu
across the Pacific islands and southeast Asia. Patouraux. “We did live testing for months, pushing this modem constantly to
Kacific services about 2500 government facilities, many of them schools its limits. And after this, we deployed the modem in small batches, in places like
and hospitals, in Indonesia, and more than 500 customers in the Philippines. the Philippines, some parts of Papua New Guinea as well. And we just listened FNPF ZEROES IN ON ‘ZERO’ BALANCES
“We currently have 30 clinics in Papua New Guinea that we are connecting to feedback from customers.”
with [through PNG Sustainable Development Program]. We’ve connected too Patouraux envisages the market for the modem as being small businesses,
in Vanuatu, in Solomons and in Kiribati,” Patouraux says. schools, libraries, hotels, universities and health clinics.
“Tuvalu is a great example as well. We completely changed the face of the Entrepreneurial Pacific Islanders could also use GigWiFi in their By Dionisia Tabureguci that need to close if the member is deceased. We now have
telecom industry. In Tuvalu, the price of broadband dropped by half, in a matter communities, by selling vouchers for internet access. “It’s really a hybrid an agreement with the Birth, Death and Marriage office where
of a year, thanks to our service GigStarter plans.” system where the owner of a premise could actually make some money out of Over 50,000 Fiji National Provident Fund (FNPF) member we can extract information which will allow us to close off or
selling the service,” Patouraux states. accounts will be scrutinised and reclassified as work gets reclassify the accounts of deceased members. The accounts
GigStarter
GigStarter is a series of broadband plans sized for the number of CommsBox under way to address the large number of ‘zero balances’ will then be addressed according to the category they fall
individuals/devices accessing a particular network. Its success has been built As South Pacific nations enter cyclone season, Kacific has also launched amongst members. under,” said Vodonaivalu.
on its accessibility and affordability. an emergency product, the CommsBox. It is a self-contained unit which ‘Zero balance’ accounts have been a thorn in the Fund’s The exercise will not mean that membership will decline
Kacific recently introduced a new range of GigStarter plans, ranging from includes a self-installing satellite dish, solar-power energy pack, user tablets, side, having accumulated over the years, with the latest by over 50,000.
GigStarter Simple, with speeds of up to 6 MBPS suitable for small households preconfigured and connected modem, WiFi set up, all in a sealed, shock-
and couples with simple data usage needs, to GigStarter Ultimate, with speeds resident, fire-resistant, buoyant and transportable container. numbers putting it at a staggering 58,712 of a total member- Vodonaivalu said some members with zero balances may
of up to 40 MBPS which is suitable for small businesses, farms and households Kacific’s CommsBox is designed to quickly re-establish connectivity and ship of 446,658, or roughly 13%. be classified as inactive until a contribution or transaction
connecting up to four devices simultaneously. communications in emergencies and disaster situations. It’s a turnkey solution “As we have highlighted in the case study in the 2021 an- occurs.
In offering these services, Kacific has broken down the wall that typically that can be instantly activated, stored at remote sites or even airdropped into nual report, 44% or 25,550 members are over 55 years and “For those over 55 years, not all will be closed because we
exists between the vendors of broadband plans and the big infrastructure emergency zones. The satellite dish inside connects to Kacific 1.
(satellite operators). “If a hurricane or tropical cyclone is about to hit the region, we’ll deploy a 97% of these accounts have been dormant for over 10 years have to look at the period they’ve been dormant and this is
“The value chain in our industry was deeply disrupted for a few months at couple of these transports, put them in a vault somewhere, let the hurricane (dormant means no transactions),” CEO Viliame Vodonaivalu part of the process taken to address it. But the stats for over
the beginning of COVID,” Patouraux says. “We had a lot of hesitation in our come by and then take them out. Then you have immediately, a very high- said, in an interview with Islands Business. 55 years, we reported that majority of these accounts have
market. Yet we had a satellite in space. And we saw all these people at home, speed system that is fully autonomous. And so emergency responders can be While often seen in a negative light, the dormant accounts been dormant for over 10 years. It should also be noted that
wanting internet, needing to connect their home, their office, their hospital, there and provide situational awareness almost immediately without knowing
their schools, etc. So, we said “Well, look, let’s close that gap.” anything about communications.” are a legacy issue for FNPF, a remnant of pre-2014 opera- members will be notified before any action is taken by the
Closing the gap involved working with retailers to provide equipment, CommsBox is specifically designed for civil defence, police and not-for- tions, before the Fund adopted the current 70/30 rule, where Fund,” Vodonaivalu said.
pricing and marketing support in exchange for a share in revenue. profit organisations. Eight units have been sold to the Fiji government, and 70% of a member’s account is “preserved” for pension, while Upon completion of the streamlining exercise, the Fund
And with the new terminal kit, which Kacific also recently introduced, Kacific Patouraux hopes more will follow. 30% is kept for other benefits offered by the Fund to its expects the issue of “zero balance” to be a thing of the past.
has made entry cost for satellite broadband more affordable for underserved He looks forward to the day he can get back to the region to see first-hand,
markets. Its introduction will reduce installation time and bring down the cost the impact Kacific is having. “What’s very satisfying is that we are becoming members. “Zero balance accounts will no longer be an issue because
of the terminal kit by up to 50%, with entry prices starting from USD$530 for part of the daily lives, it’s starting to become business as usual. People are Vodonaivalu says this old design and regulatory barriers to the policy ensures that there will always be a positive balance
all other markets. thinking, ‘Oh, I need connectivity’. So, it’s a great validation.” closing accounts explain the vast majority of zero balances due to a larger portion (70%) set aside for retirement in the
amongst account holders 55 years and older. preserved account. While members access the general ac-
“At the time, members could access up to two thirds or count (30%) for early withdrawals, the preserved account en-
GigStarter Simple GigStarter Everyday GigStarter Ultimate 66% of their total savings for pre-retirement withdrawals, sures there are funds in member accounts when they retire,”
Unlimited Plan Unlimited Plan Unlimited Plan which led to a member having low account balance. The total said Vodonaivalu.

Speeds up to Speeds up to Speeds up to zero balance account is a significant number because we FNPF recorded a net income of $543 million during the year
6 MBPS 25 MBPS 40 MBPS weren’t able to close it off. Accounts can only be closed off and declared an interest rate return of 5% for its members.
3 3 15 10 30 10 under an entitlement event upon member/next of kin/fam- Meanwhile, the contribution rate for compulsory FNPF
Now with more affordable ily notifying the Fund. Without the Fund notified, accounts members will increase to 12% from 1st January 2022. This
terminal prices. Starting from Mbps Mbps Mbps Mbps Mbps Mbps
USD560. Suitable for small businesses, remain open and included as part of the membership count.” means that employers and employees (members) will pay 6%
Suitable for small households
and/or couples with simple Suitable for small farms and households ‘Zero balance’ accounts have been declining over the years each. The new rate will be effective until 31 December 2022.
data usage needs households connecting up to 4 devices
simultaneously – 64,000 in 2018; 61,284 in 2019; 59,508 in 2020; 58,712 in Vodonaivalu said the increment is part of moves to gradu-
2021 – and have no impact on the Fund’s overall operations. ally restore the compulsory contribution rate, after it was
Web browsing, social media, Web browsing, social media,
Web browsing, email, voice Streamlining them is a recent exercise. reduced from 18% to 10% in April 2020 to cushion the impact
music and video streaming
calls daily. Limited SD video (up to 350Hrs in SD or 100Hrs music and video streaming (up
streaming. to 500Hrs in SD of 160Hrs HD “We are now making decisions on how we are re-classifying of the COVID-19 pandemic.
HD per month) per month)
these accounts according to the different status. It will in-
To find out the monthly fee for our plans, contact your local Internet Service Provider at Subject to Fair Usage Policy clude those that we may have to consider inactive, and those editor@islandsbusiness.com
https://kacific.com/services/ internet-for-business/
Islands Business, December 2021 29