UK Government Rejects £10m St Helena Plea for Fibre Optic Broadband

The UK government’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has rejected a plea for £10m in additional public support to help bring fibre optic broadband connectivity to the remote British overseas territory of St Helena, which sits strategically in the middle of the Atlantic ocean and is home to over 4,000 people.

South African firm eFive Telecoms already plans to build a new 12.8Tbps (Terabits per second) capable submarine cable, called SAex (South Atlantic Express), which would link South Africa and Angola to Brazil with onward connectivity to the USA via GlobeNet. The £185m ($300M) project would be built by TE SubCom and its planned route was recently re-adjusted to bring a branch within striking distance of St Helena.

St Helena (47 sq miles), famous for being the place where Napoleon was exiled (October 1815), is sadly also one of the most isolated islands in the world and can only be reached by sea. On top of that the UK government has to commit around £25m a year in public support to keep it running and locals who want internet access need to shell out over £100 a month for bog standard Satellite connectivity.

In 2011, the UK government announced that it planned to spend around £200m – £300m to build an airport on the island by 2015, which was intended to support the development of a new tourist industry and would eventually release the community from its financial dependence on external aid (the strategic proximity to the Falklands is probably just as important). But what about broadband?

Statement from the FCO (BBC)

“We are aware of eFive Telecom’s plans to lay a fibre-optic cable connecting South Africa and Brazil and the St Helena Government’s initial discussions with them about the feasibility and costs of a spur link to St Helena.

If the developers proceed with the project then a full economic assessment would be needed to consider the extent of the economic and social benefits that such a link could bring to St Helena.”

But apparently tourists and interested investors don’t need good broadband and the government’s FCO said that the extra funding would instead be the “responsibility of the St Helena Government“, which isn’t likely to find an extra £10m anytime soon. In fairness it’s a lot of money to connect 4,000 people but then they are already spending £200m on a new airport.

The Department for International Development (DID) could still assist in finding the money but such expectations are beginning to look increasingly shaky. It’s interesting to note that the controversial new International Telecommunications Regulations (ITR), which the UK has refused to sign, included a clause that required countries to connect their remote communities.