Marshall Islands Back Online After Internet Blackout

MAJURO, Marshall Islands, , (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 20th Jan, 2017 ) - The Marshall Islands has restored internet services after the Pacific nation endured a three-week blackout while its sole submarine fibre-optic cable was repaired.

The cable service was cut late December after a "power anomaly", with phone and internet communications switched from landline to satellite, cutting bandwidth by 97 percent. Residents and business said it soon became apparent how important the internet had become to modern life, even in a small island nation of 53,000 people.

Social media activity slowed to a crawl and, with online access restricted to a few hours a day, businesses sent staff to physically deliver documents, rather than emailing them.

The College of the Marshall Islands was forced to delay the start of its spring semester by a week because classes simply could not function without internet access "I've been greatly affected with the internet off for such a long time," said Mailina Loeak, a second year student at the college.

"I haven't been able to go online to search on the web, browse social media, and communicate with my friends and family." Locals reported a sudden deluge of residents posting photos and updates as soon as the cable service was restored on Thursday night.