Building on an island-wide intranet created by former Peace Corps volunteer Richard St. Clair, IUSN first brought e-mail to Niue in late 1997
Building on an island-wide intranet created by former Peace Corps volunteer Richard St. Clair, IUSN first brought e-mail to the island in late 1997 followed by a full-scale, satellite-based internet connection, accessed through a free-to-users internet caf? in the capital, Alofi, and by the few telephone lines that could handle data.
And up to that point, the government -- a prime beneficiary of the island's new ability to connect to the internet -- happily allowed IUSN to co-exist with Telecom Niue.
But in late 2003, when IUSN decided to turn the entire island into a WiFi hot-spot and make access free, Telecom Niue -- and the government -- clamped down. Touted around the world as a wireless paradise, Niue stood briefly as an example of what private industry can accomplish in even the most unlikely places with the encouragement of even the poorest governments.
But the government, as expressed through Telecom Niue, was not on board.
Not only did ubiquitous wireless internet mean that users could bypass the per-minute telephone charges of making data connections to the Niue internet hub but it also raised the spectre of free internet phone calls via computer. Even without a formal voice over internet protocol structure, such free phone calls have long been available between computer users who are connected to the internet -- and the revenue stream represented by high international tolls for calls out of Niue might have vanished as islanders figured out the technology.
The handwriting had actually been on the wall for more than a year by the time the government acted.
