Most Pacific phone services restored

Most Pacific nations whose international phone services were affected by a satellite failure this week have had their services restored, Telecom said today.

But Tuvalu and Tokelau were still isolated, as was Scott Base in Antarctica.

The Intelsat satellite 174 moved out of position at 11.32am on Saturday, causing the almost complete isolation of a number of Pacific Island locations and Scott Base, Telecom spokeswoman Sarah Berry said.

Most of the islands affected still had local phone and data services but were without international calling and data access.

While services had not been restored to Scott Base, it could access back up service in an emergency situation through the nearby United States' McMurdo Base, Ms Berry said.

Telecom hoped to restore limited service of about 12 hours a day to Scott Base by the end of today, she said.

All locations should be back in service by early next week, she said.

Some restored locations may still experience problems with overloading over the next few days, she said.

- NZPA