The subsea cable providing Tonga with broadband, the Tonga Cable, has been out since 20:30 local time on Sunday night, with the nation now relying on satellite internet instead.

Provided by Kacific, the nation's digital connection to the outside world is now a Ku-band satellite accessed through local ISP Ezinet. Tonga Cable Director, Paula Piveni Piukala, said Kacific is working to boost internet and voice capacity for priority communications.

"We appreciate Kacific's assistance, as Tonga currently has no other internet or mobile phone connectivity to the outside world," Piukala said.

"Kacific's satellite service ensures that essential services can be maintained as we work to resolve the issue."

The 827km cable between Tonga and Fiji that connect to the Southern Cross Cable went live in August 2013, and was funded jointly by the Asian Development Bank and the World Bank. It was later extended out to the Ha'apai and Vava'u islands in April last year.

The 60Tbps Southern Cross NEXT cable was originally going to traverse Tonga waters, but was changed to go through Wallis and Fortuna waters instead.

Fiji, Tokelau, and Kiribati have signed onto the $350 million NEXT cable due to go live later this year.

SUBSEA CABLES ACROSS THE GLOBE