French Polynesia
Power & telecom standards in French Polynesia
Connectivity Overview
Tempest Telecom offered satellite-only service in French Polynesia. Iridium satellite Internet and Voice access was available for communications in rural areas without infrastructure.
French Polynesia uses 220V at 60Hz. Power outlets are type A, B, C, E and telephone jacks are RJ-11.
Dial-up Internet Access
Dial-up access was not available in French Polynesia. Satellite Internet was the recommended alternative.
WiFi Hotspot Access
WiFi hotspot access was not available through Tempest in French Polynesia.
Adapters & Power
North American (Type A/B) plugs are compatible. An adapter may not be needed for US travelers.
Standard RJ-11 jacks are used. Most international modems will connect without an adapter.
French Polynesia at a Glance
- Capital
- Papeete
- Phone Code
- +689
- Voltage
- 220V / 60Hz
- Power Plug
- A, B, C, E
- Phone Jack
- RJ-11
- Currency
- CFP Franc
- Dial-up
- N/A
- WiFi
- N/A
About connectivity in French Polynesia
French Polynesia uses 110V/60Hz at variable frequencies with Type A, Type B, and Type E outlets — an unusual mix reflecting the territory's status as an overseas collectivity of France in the South Pacific with mixed American and French electrical heritage. The phone jack is RJ-11. Vini and Vodafone French Polynesia operate the territory's mobile networks alongside the state operator Office des Postes et Télécommunications (OPT).
French Polynesian commercial Internet emerged in the late 1990s through OPT. The territory's extreme geographic dispersion (population ~280,000 spread across 118 inhabited islands across an area roughly the size of Europe) shapes infrastructure investment.
The French Polynesian prepaid international calling-card market through the 2000s served the modest outbound diaspora — concentrated in metropolitan France and New Zealand.
Tempest Telecom served French Polynesia through dial-up POPs in Papeete. The South Pacific maritime industry, the substantial luxury-tourism sector (Bora Bora and the Society Islands), pearl-farming operations, and the broader Polynesian inter-island logistics customer base sustained Iridium demand.
Modern French Polynesia has expanding 4G LTE coverage with FTTH concentrated in Papeete.
Tempest's services across French Polynesia, 1997–2012
Tempest Telecommunications operated international connectivity services in French Polynesia between 1997 and 2012 under a unified prepaid account that absorbed multiple service types onto a single customer credential. Customers in French Polynesia drew from the same balance for pre-paid international voice calling, RADIUS-authenticated dial-up Internet roaming, metered Wi-Fi hotspot access, Iridium satellite voice, and Inmarsat BGAN data terminals. An attempted kiosk-payment federation (PATN, 1998) extended the same architecture to public Internet terminals but failed to reach scale.
Iridium satellite voice was available in French Polynesia from approximately 2001 (post-bankruptcy relaunch). Thuraya coverage did not extend to French Polynesia; Inmarsat BGAN data terminals filled the broadband gap from late 2005.
Nearby countries in Oceania
Christmas Island · Cocos (Keeling) Islands · Cook Islands · Fiji · Guam · Kiribati · Marshall Islands · Micronesia