9 May 2008

Niue confident phone system will be fixed soon

4:20 pm on 9 May 2008

Niue Telecom says it hopes it can correct problems with its phone service within days.

The island's international phone service has been plagued by frequent drop outs in the signal, making conversations difficult.

Don Wiseman has more.

"The CEO of Niue Telecom, Richard Hipa, agrees it is a problem that urgently needs to be fixed. He says the equipment, which is now classified obsolete, was badly affected by a recent lightning strike. Mr Hipa says sourcing replacements has been a problem but they are hoping it will arrive on this weekend's Air New Zealand flight. He says eventually Niue's telecommunications will convert to new technology but this will need to be done in a piecemeal fashion. Meanwhile the Niue Government says with the assistance of the Secretariat of the South Pacific it is bringing in supplementary satellite technology ahead of the Pacific Islands Forum summit being held on the island in August."