Vanuatu
Power & telecom standards in Vanuatu
Connectivity Overview
Tempest Telecom offered satellite-only service in Vanuatu. Iridium satellite Internet and Voice access was available for communications in rural areas without infrastructure.
Vanuatu uses 230V at 50Hz. Power outlets are type C, G, I and telephone jacks are RJ-11.
Dial-up Internet Access
Dial-up access was not available in Vanuatu. Satellite Internet was the recommended alternative.
WiFi Hotspot Access
WiFi hotspot access was not available through Tempest in Vanuatu.
Adapters & Power
A Type G (British 3-pin) adapter is required for travelers from North America, Europe, and most of Asia.
Standard RJ-11 jacks are used. Most international modems will connect without an adapter.
Vanuatu at a Glance
- Capital
- Port Vila
- Phone Code
- +678
- Voltage
- 230V / 50Hz
- Power Plug
- C, G, I
- Phone Jack
- RJ-11
- Currency
- Vatu
- Dial-up
- N/A
- WiFi
- N/A
About connectivity in Vanuatu
Vanuatu uses 220V/50Hz with the Type I plug. The phone jack is RJ-11. Telecom Vanuatu Limited (TVL) and Digicel Vanuatu compete in the country's telecom market.
Ni-Vanuatu commercial Internet emerged in the late 1990s through TVL. The country's ~330,000 population spread across 65 inhabited islands shaped infrastructure development.
The Ni-Vanuatu prepaid international calling-card market through the 2000s served the modest outbound diaspora — concentrated in Australia, New Zealand, and Fiji.
Tempest Telecom served Vanuatu through dial-up POPs in Port Vila. The Pacific maritime industry, the offshore financial-services sector (Vanuatu is a notable offshore tax-haven jurisdiction), and humanitarian operators across recurring cyclone-recovery operations sustained Iridium demand.
Modern Vanuatu has expanding 4G LTE coverage in populated areas; satellite continues to play a substantial role for remote-island connectivity.
Tempest's services across Vanuatu, 1997–2012
Tempest Telecommunications operated international connectivity services in Vanuatu between 1997 and 2012 under a unified prepaid account that absorbed multiple service types onto a single customer credential. Customers in Vanuatu 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 Vanuatu from approximately 2001 (post-bankruptcy relaunch). Thuraya coverage did not extend to Vanuatu; Inmarsat BGAN data terminals filled the broadband gap from late 2005.
Nearby countries in Oceania
American Samoa · Australia · Christmas Island · Cocos (Keeling) Islands · Cook Islands · Fiji · French Polynesia · Guam