13 ms·

Saint Helena Island Communications

223 points by kickofline 3y ago

whalesalad 3y ago
relevant documentary video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-QejUTDCWw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-QejUTDCWw
- Aachen 3y ago
  Content behind the random google video ID "The World's Most Useful Airport [Documentary]" —Wendover Productions, 2019-12-31
rwmj 3y ago
Why does Saint Helena have import duty, or are they talking about packages not coming from the UK?
- jseutter 3y ago
  Saint Helena has import tariffs like other colonies do. They used to have preferential rates for commonwealth countries but I'm not sure if that still exists. I guess my response would be they have import duties for the same reasons other colonies do. Why wouldn't they tax imports? edit: found an updated tariff document https://www.sainthelena.gov.sh/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/ST-HELENA-TARIFF-August-2022.pdf https://www.sainthelena.gov.sh/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/ST... . I don't see anything special for commonwealth countries so it's probably a thing of the past.
wizerdrobe 3y ago
> Note that the postcode (‘zip code’) ‘STHL 1ZZ’ applies to the entire island, and also that the ‘South Atlantic Ocean’, while strictly unnecessary, does seem to help prevent letters being routed to California, South Carolina or Australia! Took me several paragraphs to realize this wasn’t invoking my beloved Beaufort County
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
- miohtama 3y ago
  Seems that the post codes of British colonies follow a pattern. Gibraltar is GX11 1AA (the whole country).
  - NeoTar 3y ago
    I believe postal codes for the British Overseas Territories (etc.) were adopted in early 2000s to allow for more convenient online ordering since for the remaining British territories postal codes are probably overkill (having about 80.000 residents at most).
AlbertCory 3y ago
I (sorta) know the author of a self-published book, Finding Napoleon which I think covers his time on St. Helena. It's funny that they don't much mention the main reason anyone's heard of it.
- avgcorrection 3y ago
  You mean the epic steps?
  - AlbertCory 3y ago
    I did a find on "Napoleon." what did I miss?
    - Jtsummers 3y ago
      Why would the communications page of their site mention him? He's mentioned on other pages if you're curious enough to explore the site, though.
      - AlbertCory 3y ago
        I guess I wasn't.
    - avgcorrection 3y ago
      Oh, you meant that this site doesn't mention Napoleon. I don't see a reason for a how-to site on their site to mention whatever this island's claim to fame is? Sounds like someone putting a plaque at Milford Sound that says “You might have heard of New Zealand as the filming location of Lord of the Rings!”
      - AlbertCory 3y ago
        I've been to Milford Sound. Actually, there are tons of LOTR tours in NZ, and it's got a lot more reasons for being famous than just Peter Jackson movies. You AND the other guy could have just said, "You missed the other pages on the site."
kickofline 3y ago
> It has come to the attention of the St Helena Government that members of the public may have acquired, imported and be currently using terminals, such as Starlink, for the purposes of internet connectivity. Using such terminals is in contravention of the exclusivity of current telecommunications licencing arrangements made under section 3(4) of the Telecommunications Ordinance 1989. From 1 November 2023 anyone using such a terminal will be liable to be subject to a ‘ceaseand desist’ order issued on behalf of the Government. A cease and desist order is an instruction to stop using terminals, and continue to refrain from using terminals, whilst the exclusivity of the current telecommunications licencing arrangements remain in force. Any breach of such a cease and desist order may result in the confiscation of the equipment. Starlink seems to be illegal to protect the government’s investment in a monopoly on the main satellite.
- wffurr 3y ago
  Why bother with Starlink if the fiberoptic subsea cable is live now?
  - ZeWaka 3y ago
    It's not rolled out yet: http://sainthelenaisland.info/communications.htm#maestrotechnologies http://sainthelenaisland.info/communications.htm#maestrotech...
    - justrealist 3y ago
      > Due to delays in finalising designs for the new network, it is now accepted that it will not be completed by January 2024 If they haven't finalized the design, I'd say they've got a ways to go.
    - wffurr 3y ago
      Is that for the cable or FTTP deployment on the island itself? Seems like they could at least get much better mobile internet rates using the subsea cable instead of satellite for backhaul. I had a very difficult time trying to figure out if that subsea cable was online or not.
syndicatedjelly 3y ago
There is something to be learned from the simplicity and quaintness of this site - the information density is much higher than 90% of modern web sites. In a single page, by simply scrolling I learned so much about the communication infrastructure of a British island outpost.
- dylan604 3y ago
  There's a meme-like website that demos this very concept. Then there's a v2.0 or some ++ type versioning where they use very minimal CSS to actually improve the readability. I'm a fan of the use of the minimal CSS to add margins and widths as it improves readability for me. Searching for it with only the vagueness of what I can think of right now returns nothing useful, and that's with not using Google. Maybe my vague description will be enough with someone with better recall than I have.
  - johndotsun 3y ago
    The original (I think): https://motherfuckingwebsite.com/ https://motherfuckingwebsite.com/ First improvement: http://bettermotherfuckingwebsite.com/ http://bettermotherfuckingwebsite.com/ Later iterations: https://thebestmotherfucking.website/ https://thebestmotherfucking.website/ https://perfectmotherfuckingwebsite.com/ https://perfectmotherfuckingwebsite.com/
    - dylan604 3y ago
      yup, this is it. thanks for being the collective memory
  - ta1243 3y ago
    https://bestmotherfucking.website/ https://bestmotherfucking.website/ perhaps, which I have to admit improves on http://motherfuckingwebsite.com/ http://motherfuckingwebsite.com/ Searching for "the best fucking website" is not fruitful though.
    - denysvitali 3y ago
wantlotsofcurry 3y ago
I'm surprised they didn't use the .sh domain for the website.
MichaelAza 3y ago
Under Telephone History it says: > The current PABX-based system went live over the weekend of 27-29th July 1990 A PBX serving a whole country, even a small one, is wild. From what I could find [1] the system used was a UXD5 exchange [2] which is technically a PSTN exchange intended for rural areas and based off the Monarch 120 PBX [3]. The architecture of the UXD5 is common to a lot of telephone exchanges of the time (possibly modern ones as well?) with actor based message passing, actors running on different levels (more real time vs less real time) and a combination of assembly and a high level language (in this case, Coral [4]). Fascinating stuff. [1] https://techmonitor.ai/technology/cable_wireless_has_contract_with_the_island_of_st_helena https://techmonitor.ai/technology/cable_wireless_has_contrac... [2] https://sites.google.com/site/monarchcallconnectsystem/uxd5-a-public-exchange-based-on-monarch-technology https://sites.google.com/site/monarchcallconnectsystem/uxd5-... [3] https://sites.google.com/site/monarchcallconnectsystem/monarch-120-a-new-digital-pabx https://sites.google.com/site/monarchcallconnectsystem/monar... [4] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/CORAL https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/CORAL
- ithkuil 3y ago
  Population <5k people
craig_s_bell 3y ago
If you want to learn more about life on St. Helena, I recommend a blog called What The Saints Did Next: https://whatthesaintsdidnext.com/ https://whatthesaintsdidnext.com/ My favorite posts are the trip reports... They have hiked to every corner of the island. Great photos, and lots of history.
- quickthrower2 3y ago
  The beauty contest winner doesn’t have an impossibly thin body. Already looks like an interesting place…
mikeortman 3y ago
The fact there is an internet monopoly barring residents to use other internet providers is sad, especially given the impact on the GDP of the island if proper high speed internet and technological resources are available. I have a feeling the government is doing the cease and desist as a hand wavy thing to make the internet company happy, but will put little if any effort in actually enforcing it (if there is even something that could be done legally). From what I understand, the Saints are an incredibly kind and chill group of people, just living life without much worry. I can't imagine the government giving a shit
- gambiting 3y ago
  >>The fact there is an internet monopoly barring residents to use other internet providers is sad I guess the deal was that if this company brings internet connectivity then they get exclusivity on the island for X number of years. I wish the article would get into more details about this deal. Edit: on second read, the article does actually. It mentions the exclusivity deal was meant to expire in 2022, but because of lack of suitable replacement or alternative solutions it was extended to 2023 and it was just extended again to 2024.
  - toomuchtodo 3y ago
    u/skrause mentions in another subthread that the government has commissioned a fiber optic network going live at the end of the year. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37651113 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37651113 https://web.archive.org/web/20230925221524/http://www.independent.sh/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/St-Helena-Independent-20220916.pdf https://web.archive.org/web/20230925221524/http://www.indepe... (page 3)
JetSetWilly 3y ago
> A search on Google™ for ‘Saint Helena’ will bring up many sites that are in California, which has a town called ‘Saint Helena’, or South Carolina, which has an area known as ‘Saint Helena Island’. For this reason it is best when using Google™ to append to your search ‘-napa -carolina -california’, which will remove many of these irrelevant results. Not any more! Since google "enhanced" their search to remove such operators. I just tried searching in this way for eg some restaurants and there was indeed a bunch of irrelevant results even with the exclusions. I wonder what they do now.
- beowulfey 3y ago
  When did Google do this?
  - tomcam 3y ago
    At least five years ago. Drives me crazy.
    - chongli 3y ago
      It’s their M.O. Relentlessly cut “power user” features. Relentlessly undermine the user’s wishes and redirect the user to Google’s preferred results. I don’t know why we continue to put up with it. Boiling frogs I guess.
      - hutzlibu 3y ago
        Because changing habits and routines costs energy and we don't like that.
      - intelVISA 3y ago
        The more direct their search the less opporunity to data mine, upsell you, or otherwise abuse your experience.
      - varispeed 3y ago
        Google used to be the best site to find illegal content. Probably that's why they removed those "power user" features.
scroot 3y ago
I took one of the last voyages of the RMS St Helena (the only way to get there prior to 2016) and stayed on the island for 10 days. AMA
- higeorge13 3y ago
  How did you spend your 10 days? Were the locals friendly to you?
  - scroot 3y ago
    I stayed in several guest houses during my time there. I also took some tours around the island. Wandering was probably the best part. The locals were extremely friendly and helpful, not to mention a riot during late nights at the pub...
    - rendall 3y ago
      Would you go back for an extended stay of more than, say, 6 months?
      - scroot 3y ago
        If I was younger and my job allowed it, certainly. I think they are close to getting an undersea fiber optic internet connection, which could make it an ideal place for someone able and willing to due a stint working remotely. St Helena is beautiful and the people are great, but there isn't "much to do." It's like living in the countryside. If that's your vibe -- or you have a novel you want to hunker down on -- it's an ideal place.
  - tomarr 3y ago
    [flagged]
- bibstha 3y ago
  What made you choose St Helena for your travel? Did you feel like you got to see most of the island in 10 days?
cbsks 3y ago
Yikes! Internet is expensive! And there is only a single provider legally allowed to operate. 18£: 30GB. 5Mbps down, 1Mbps up 36£: 60GB. 5Mbps down, 1Mbps up 67£: unlimited. 10Mbps down, 1Mbps up 120£: unlimited. 20Mbps down, 1Mbps up https://www.sure.co.sh/assets/Banner-Links/Residential-Broadband-Plans-2023-120923.pdf https://www.sure.co.sh/assets/Banner-Links/Residential-Broad...
- coryrc 3y ago
  Wait until you hear about what it costs in regular parts of the US...
  - aquaticsunset 3y ago
    Umm... significantly less than that? US telecom isn't a shining star of good value and fair pricing, but a median speed of 210 Mbps with a roughly $75/mo bill is a lot better than Saint Helena Island.
    - coryrc 3y ago
      You're paying about the same amount as a tiny island in the middle of nowhere. It should not even be close! Yes, yours is faster, for now.
  - Rebelgecko 3y ago
    I pay roughly 50 pounds for 300 mbps down and 20 up. That seems pretty typical for parts of the US without gigabit availability, sans rural areas that depend on satellite connection. I think if you want to shit on a devloped country with slow and overpriced internet, Australia is still the gold standard (not that the US is perfect by any means)
- jakub_g 3y ago
  Sounds like a better and cheaper deal than in Berlin! (Semi-joking. Never lived in Berlin, but the mind-blowingly bad infra for such a big EU IT hub is a recurring meme).
quickthrower2 3y ago
Looking forward to the new cloud region! > In July 2019 the Government of St Helena announced that it has issued a letter of intent to connect the island to Equiano. The 1,140Km branch to Saint Helena was completed in 2021 so this cable will provide the first fibre optic connectivity from St Helena to the outside world through both Europe and South Africa. Compared to the current satellite link the cable will bring almost incredible amounts of capacity. The Government of St Helena estimates that it will deliver several hundred gigabits per second - far more than the island’s population of around 4,400 people{16} could possibly use. The plan is therefore to turn the island into a communications hub, with satellites in space linking via groundstations on the island to the world via the cable. The Government of St Helena believes St Helena’s position in the South Atlantic and its political and physical stability make it an ideal and almost unique location for this use.
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
- londons_explore 3y ago
  Does it have reliable supplies of plentiful and cheap electricity and water? Because without that, datacenters won't be showing up... And even if it did, big US companies don't really like to have data centers in places that are too remote, if only because staff have to visit from time to time and don't want to have to take an 8 hour seaplane ride to get there...
  - njarboe 3y ago
    Communication hub. Probably just a downlink for Starlink for most of the South Atlantic.
  - secalex 3y ago
    They aren't talking about general purposed datacenters, but satellite uplink stations. These new constellations of low-Earth orbit (LEO) internet satellites (like Starlink) can network with each other but eventually need to downlink into a big terrestrial dish where the traffic meets a fiber backbone. It's position in the southern hemisphere, middle of the Atlantic and political stability (still part of keeping the sun from setting on the British Empire) would make this an interesting place for downlink stations. Not a ton of jobs, but some CapEx for construction and probably a couple dozen people year-round.
jedberg 3y ago
The most interesting part (to me) is buried in the middle: "Compared to the current satellite link the [undersea, Google owned fiber-optic] cable will bring almost incredible amounts of capacity. The Government of St Helena estimates that it will deliver several hundred gigabits per second - far more than the island’s population of around 4,400 people could possibly use. The plan is therefore to turn the island into a communications hub, with satellites in space linking via groundstations on the island to the world via the cable. The Government of St Helena believes St Helena’s position in the South Atlantic and its political and physical stability make it an ideal and almost unique location for this use."
thefz 3y ago
> In July 2019 the Government of St Helena announced that it has issued a letter of intent to connect the island to Equiano. The 1,140Km branch to Saint Helena was completed in 2021 so this cable will provide the first fibre optic connectivity from St Helena to the outside world through both Europe and South Africa. > Compared to the current satellite link the cable will bring almost incredible amounts of capacity. The Government of St Helena estimates that it will deliver several hundred gigabits per second - far more than the island’s population of around 4,400 people{16} could possibly use. The plan is therefore to turn the island into a communications hub > [...] > A route survey was conducted in August 2019 and at the end of the year the Government of St Helena announced that it had signed an agreement with Google™ to land the cable at St Helena, aiming to commence service in 2022. > On 6th February 2020 Sure announced that it had no plans to upgrade domestic and small-business Internet connections to Fibre-Optic when the Equiano Cable arrives in 2022, meaning ordinary users would not see the full benefits of the new system. Screw this ISP, man.
- skrause 3y ago
  However it seems that they are now building an island wide fiber network owned by the government and not by an ISP, and will end the current monopoly as soon as this network is ready: https://openfalklands.com/st-helena-plans-for-an-island-wide-fibre-optic-cable-network-being-developed/ https://openfalklands.com/st-helena-plans-for-an-island-wide...
  - thefz 3y ago
    Good for them. Imagine living in a natural paradise with high speed fiber at home.
- realo 3y ago
  Apparently Sure is based in Bahreïn ... quite a few kilometers from the island. So why would they care about anything other than money?
- Tijdreiziger 3y ago
  Looks like service was upgraded after all, though: https://www.sure.co.sh/assets/Banner-Links/PRESS-RELEASE-Connecting-to-Equiano-Final-Updated-v3-3.pdf https://www.sure.co.sh/assets/Banner-Links/PRESS-RELEASE-Con...
antiviral 3y ago
For those of you interested in reading about work being done to start a new city (1) or new semi-autonomous country (2) where people can plan something new, St Helena Island sounds like a good candidate- remote but can still in the middle of several trade routes. (1) https://apnews.com/article/silicon-valley-tech-investors-new-city-housing-35f91416dd7d84ecb03ed08199d87dd5 https://apnews.com/article/silicon-valley-tech-investors-new... (2) https://www.wired.com/story/itana-binance-charter-cities-institute-africa-tech-startup/ https://www.wired.com/story/itana-binance-charter-cities-ins...
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
maximilianburke 3y ago
Given their current slow satellite internet uplink I'm surprised they don't call it Saint Helena Island Telecom.
WarOnPrivacy 3y ago
On 6th February 2020 Sure announced that it had no plans to upgrade domestic and small-business Internet connections to Fibre-Optic when the Equiano Cable arrives in 2022, meaning ordinary users would not see the full benefits of the new system. Having their ISP refusing to connect customers to the long awaited fiber is the most Telco thing ever.
- inemesitaffia 3y ago
  They changed their minds, will offer unlimited data. But the down/up isn't quite there
  - WarOnPrivacy 3y ago
    That's good news. I've been cheering for them since the 1st undersea cable deployment was announced (the one that fell through).

223 points by kickofline 3y ago

whalesalad 3y ago

relevant documentary video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-QejUTDCWw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-QejUTDCWw

Aachen 3y ago
Content behind the random google video ID "The World's Most Useful Airport [Documentary]" —Wendover Productions, 2019-12-31

rwmj 3y ago

Why does Saint Helena have import duty, or are they talking about packages not coming from the UK?

jseutter 3y ago
Saint Helena has import tariffs like other colonies do. They used to have preferential rates for commonwealth countries but I'm not sure if that still exists. I guess my response would be they have import duties for the same reasons other colonies do. Why wouldn't they tax imports? edit: found an updated tariff document https://www.sainthelena.gov.sh/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/ST-HELENA-TARIFF-August-2022.pdf https://www.sainthelena.gov.sh/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/ST... . I don't see anything special for commonwealth countries so it's probably a thing of the past.

wizerdrobe 3y ago

> Note that the postcode (‘zip code’) ‘STHL 1ZZ’ applies to the entire island, and also that the ‘South Atlantic Ocean’, while strictly unnecessary, does seem to help prevent letters being routed to California, South Carolina or Australia! Took me several paragraphs to realize this wasn’t invoking my beloved Beaufort County

deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
miohtama 3y ago
Seems that the post codes of British colonies follow a pattern. Gibraltar is GX11 1AA (the whole country).
- NeoTar 3y ago
  I believe postal codes for the British Overseas Territories (etc.) were adopted in early 2000s to allow for more convenient online ordering since for the remaining British territories postal codes are probably overkill (having about 80.000 residents at most).

AlbertCory 3y ago

I (sorta) know the author of a self-published book, Finding Napoleon which I think covers his time on St. Helena. It's funny that they don't much mention the main reason anyone's heard of it.

avgcorrection 3y ago
You mean the epic steps?
- AlbertCory 3y ago
  I did a find on "Napoleon." what did I miss?
  - Jtsummers 3y ago
    Why would the communications page of their site mention him? He's mentioned on other pages if you're curious enough to explore the site, though.
    - AlbertCory 3y ago
      I guess I wasn't.
  - avgcorrection 3y ago
    Oh, you meant that this site doesn't mention Napoleon. I don't see a reason for a how-to site on their site to mention whatever this island's claim to fame is? Sounds like someone putting a plaque at Milford Sound that says “You might have heard of New Zealand as the filming location of Lord of the Rings!”
    - AlbertCory 3y ago
      I've been to Milford Sound. Actually, there are tons of LOTR tours in NZ, and it's got a lot more reasons for being famous than just Peter Jackson movies. You AND the other guy could have just said, "You missed the other pages on the site."

kickofline 3y ago

> It has come to the attention of the St Helena Government that members of the public may have acquired, imported and be currently using terminals, such as Starlink, for the purposes of internet connectivity. Using such terminals is in contravention of the exclusivity of current telecommunications licencing arrangements made under section 3(4) of the Telecommunications Ordinance 1989. From 1 November 2023 anyone using such a terminal will be liable to be subject to a ‘ceaseand desist’ order issued on behalf of the Government. A cease and desist order is an instruction to stop using terminals, and continue to refrain from using terminals, whilst the exclusivity of the current telecommunications licencing arrangements remain in force. Any breach of such a cease and desist order may result in the confiscation of the equipment. Starlink seems to be illegal to protect the government’s investment in a monopoly on the main satellite.

wffurr 3y ago
Why bother with Starlink if the fiberoptic subsea cable is live now?
- ZeWaka 3y ago
  It's not rolled out yet: http://sainthelenaisland.info/communications.htm#maestrotechnologies http://sainthelenaisland.info/communications.htm#maestrotech...
  - justrealist 3y ago
    > Due to delays in finalising designs for the new network, it is now accepted that it will not be completed by January 2024 If they haven't finalized the design, I'd say they've got a ways to go.
  - wffurr 3y ago
    Is that for the cable or FTTP deployment on the island itself? Seems like they could at least get much better mobile internet rates using the subsea cable instead of satellite for backhaul. I had a very difficult time trying to figure out if that subsea cable was online or not.

syndicatedjelly 3y ago

There is something to be learned from the simplicity and quaintness of this site - the information density is much higher than 90% of modern web sites. In a single page, by simply scrolling I learned so much about the communication infrastructure of a British island outpost.

dylan604 3y ago
There's a meme-like website that demos this very concept. Then there's a v2.0 or some ++ type versioning where they use very minimal CSS to actually improve the readability. I'm a fan of the use of the minimal CSS to add margins and widths as it improves readability for me. Searching for it with only the vagueness of what I can think of right now returns nothing useful, and that's with not using Google. Maybe my vague description will be enough with someone with better recall than I have.
- johndotsun 3y ago
  The original (I think): https://motherfuckingwebsite.com/ https://motherfuckingwebsite.com/ First improvement: http://bettermotherfuckingwebsite.com/ http://bettermotherfuckingwebsite.com/ Later iterations: https://thebestmotherfucking.website/ https://thebestmotherfucking.website/ https://perfectmotherfuckingwebsite.com/ https://perfectmotherfuckingwebsite.com/
  - dylan604 3y ago
    yup, this is it. thanks for being the collective memory
- ta1243 3y ago
  https://bestmotherfucking.website/ https://bestmotherfucking.website/ perhaps, which I have to admit improves on http://motherfuckingwebsite.com/ http://motherfuckingwebsite.com/ Searching for "the best fucking website" is not fruitful though.
  - denysvitali 3y ago

wantlotsofcurry 3y ago

I'm surprised they didn't use the .sh domain for the website.

MichaelAza 3y ago

Under Telephone History it says: > The current PABX-based system went live over the weekend of 27-29th July 1990 A PBX serving a whole country, even a small one, is wild. From what I could find [1] the system used was a UXD5 exchange [2] which is technically a PSTN exchange intended for rural areas and based off the Monarch 120 PBX [3]. The architecture of the UXD5 is common to a lot of telephone exchanges of the time (possibly modern ones as well?) with actor based message passing, actors running on different levels (more real time vs less real time) and a combination of assembly and a high level language (in this case, Coral [4]). Fascinating stuff. [1] https://techmonitor.ai/technology/cable_wireless_has_contract_with_the_island_of_st_helena https://techmonitor.ai/technology/cable_wireless_has_contrac... [2] https://sites.google.com/site/monarchcallconnectsystem/uxd5-a-public-exchange-based-on-monarch-technology https://sites.google.com/site/monarchcallconnectsystem/uxd5-... [3] https://sites.google.com/site/monarchcallconnectsystem/monarch-120-a-new-digital-pabx https://sites.google.com/site/monarchcallconnectsystem/monar... [4] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/CORAL https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/CORAL

ithkuil 3y ago
Population <5k people

craig_s_bell 3y ago

If you want to learn more about life on St. Helena, I recommend a blog called What The Saints Did Next: https://whatthesaintsdidnext.com/ https://whatthesaintsdidnext.com/ My favorite posts are the trip reports... They have hiked to every corner of the island. Great photos, and lots of history.

quickthrower2 3y ago
The beauty contest winner doesn’t have an impossibly thin body. Already looks like an interesting place…

mikeortman 3y ago

The fact there is an internet monopoly barring residents to use other internet providers is sad, especially given the impact on the GDP of the island if proper high speed internet and technological resources are available. I have a feeling the government is doing the cease and desist as a hand wavy thing to make the internet company happy, but will put little if any effort in actually enforcing it (if there is even something that could be done legally). From what I understand, the Saints are an incredibly kind and chill group of people, just living life without much worry. I can't imagine the government giving a shit

gambiting 3y ago
>>The fact there is an internet monopoly barring residents to use other internet providers is sad I guess the deal was that if this company brings internet connectivity then they get exclusivity on the island for X number of years. I wish the article would get into more details about this deal. Edit: on second read, the article does actually. It mentions the exclusivity deal was meant to expire in 2022, but because of lack of suitable replacement or alternative solutions it was extended to 2023 and it was just extended again to 2024.
- toomuchtodo 3y ago
  u/skrause mentions in another subthread that the government has commissioned a fiber optic network going live at the end of the year. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37651113 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37651113 https://web.archive.org/web/20230925221524/http://www.independent.sh/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/St-Helena-Independent-20220916.pdf https://web.archive.org/web/20230925221524/http://www.indepe... (page 3)

JetSetWilly 3y ago

> A search on Google™ for ‘Saint Helena’ will bring up many sites that are in California, which has a town called ‘Saint Helena’, or South Carolina, which has an area known as ‘Saint Helena Island’. For this reason it is best when using Google™ to append to your search ‘-napa -carolina -california’, which will remove many of these irrelevant results. Not any more! Since google "enhanced" their search to remove such operators. I just tried searching in this way for eg some restaurants and there was indeed a bunch of irrelevant results even with the exclusions. I wonder what they do now.

beowulfey 3y ago
When did Google do this?
- tomcam 3y ago
  At least five years ago. Drives me crazy.
  - chongli 3y ago
    It’s their M.O. Relentlessly cut “power user” features. Relentlessly undermine the user’s wishes and redirect the user to Google’s preferred results. I don’t know why we continue to put up with it. Boiling frogs I guess.
    - hutzlibu 3y ago
      Because changing habits and routines costs energy and we don't like that.
    - intelVISA 3y ago
      The more direct their search the less opporunity to data mine, upsell you, or otherwise abuse your experience.
    - varispeed 3y ago
      Google used to be the best site to find illegal content. Probably that's why they removed those "power user" features.

scroot 3y ago

I took one of the last voyages of the RMS St Helena (the only way to get there prior to 2016) and stayed on the island for 10 days. AMA

higeorge13 3y ago
How did you spend your 10 days? Were the locals friendly to you?
- scroot 3y ago
  I stayed in several guest houses during my time there. I also took some tours around the island. Wandering was probably the best part. The locals were extremely friendly and helpful, not to mention a riot during late nights at the pub...
  - rendall 3y ago
    Would you go back for an extended stay of more than, say, 6 months?
    - scroot 3y ago
      If I was younger and my job allowed it, certainly. I think they are close to getting an undersea fiber optic internet connection, which could make it an ideal place for someone able and willing to due a stint working remotely. St Helena is beautiful and the people are great, but there isn't "much to do." It's like living in the countryside. If that's your vibe -- or you have a novel you want to hunker down on -- it's an ideal place.
- tomarr 3y ago
  [flagged]
bibstha 3y ago
What made you choose St Helena for your travel? Did you feel like you got to see most of the island in 10 days?

cbsks 3y ago

Yikes! Internet is expensive! And there is only a single provider legally allowed to operate. 18£: 30GB. 5Mbps down, 1Mbps up 36£: 60GB. 5Mbps down, 1Mbps up 67£: unlimited. 10Mbps down, 1Mbps up 120£: unlimited. 20Mbps down, 1Mbps up https://www.sure.co.sh/assets/Banner-Links/Residential-Broadband-Plans-2023-120923.pdf https://www.sure.co.sh/assets/Banner-Links/Residential-Broad...

coryrc 3y ago
Wait until you hear about what it costs in regular parts of the US...
- aquaticsunset 3y ago
  Umm... significantly less than that? US telecom isn't a shining star of good value and fair pricing, but a median speed of 210 Mbps with a roughly $75/mo bill is a lot better than Saint Helena Island.
  - coryrc 3y ago
    You're paying about the same amount as a tiny island in the middle of nowhere. It should not even be close! Yes, yours is faster, for now.
- Rebelgecko 3y ago
  I pay roughly 50 pounds for 300 mbps down and 20 up. That seems pretty typical for parts of the US without gigabit availability, sans rural areas that depend on satellite connection. I think if you want to shit on a devloped country with slow and overpriced internet, Australia is still the gold standard (not that the US is perfect by any means)
jakub_g 3y ago
Sounds like a better and cheaper deal than in Berlin! (Semi-joking. Never lived in Berlin, but the mind-blowingly bad infra for such a big EU IT hub is a recurring meme).

quickthrower2 3y ago

Looking forward to the new cloud region! > In July 2019 the Government of St Helena announced that it has issued a letter of intent to connect the island to Equiano. The 1,140Km branch to Saint Helena was completed in 2021 so this cable will provide the first fibre optic connectivity from St Helena to the outside world through both Europe and South Africa. Compared to the current satellite link the cable will bring almost incredible amounts of capacity. The Government of St Helena estimates that it will deliver several hundred gigabits per second - far more than the island’s population of around 4,400 people{16} could possibly use. The plan is therefore to turn the island into a communications hub, with satellites in space linking via groundstations on the island to the world via the cable. The Government of St Helena believes St Helena’s position in the South Atlantic and its political and physical stability make it an ideal and almost unique location for this use.

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londons_explore 3y ago
Does it have reliable supplies of plentiful and cheap electricity and water? Because without that, datacenters won't be showing up... And even if it did, big US companies don't really like to have data centers in places that are too remote, if only because staff have to visit from time to time and don't want to have to take an 8 hour seaplane ride to get there...
- njarboe 3y ago
  Communication hub. Probably just a downlink for Starlink for most of the South Atlantic.
- secalex 3y ago
  They aren't talking about general purposed datacenters, but satellite uplink stations. These new constellations of low-Earth orbit (LEO) internet satellites (like Starlink) can network with each other but eventually need to downlink into a big terrestrial dish where the traffic meets a fiber backbone. It's position in the southern hemisphere, middle of the Atlantic and political stability (still part of keeping the sun from setting on the British Empire) would make this an interesting place for downlink stations. Not a ton of jobs, but some CapEx for construction and probably a couple dozen people year-round.

jedberg 3y ago

The most interesting part (to me) is buried in the middle: "Compared to the current satellite link the [undersea, Google owned fiber-optic] cable will bring almost incredible amounts of capacity. The Government of St Helena estimates that it will deliver several hundred gigabits per second - far more than the island’s population of around 4,400 people could possibly use. The plan is therefore to turn the island into a communications hub, with satellites in space linking via groundstations on the island to the world via the cable. The Government of St Helena believes St Helena’s position in the South Atlantic and its political and physical stability make it an ideal and almost unique location for this use."

thefz 3y ago

> In July 2019 the Government of St Helena announced that it has issued a letter of intent to connect the island to Equiano. The 1,140Km branch to Saint Helena was completed in 2021 so this cable will provide the first fibre optic connectivity from St Helena to the outside world through both Europe and South Africa. > Compared to the current satellite link the cable will bring almost incredible amounts of capacity. The Government of St Helena estimates that it will deliver several hundred gigabits per second - far more than the island’s population of around 4,400 people{16} could possibly use. The plan is therefore to turn the island into a communications hub > [...] > A route survey was conducted in August 2019 and at the end of the year the Government of St Helena announced that it had signed an agreement with Google™ to land the cable at St Helena, aiming to commence service in 2022. > On 6th February 2020 Sure announced that it had no plans to upgrade domestic and small-business Internet connections to Fibre-Optic when the Equiano Cable arrives in 2022, meaning ordinary users would not see the full benefits of the new system. Screw this ISP, man.

skrause 3y ago
However it seems that they are now building an island wide fiber network owned by the government and not by an ISP, and will end the current monopoly as soon as this network is ready: https://openfalklands.com/st-helena-plans-for-an-island-wide-fibre-optic-cable-network-being-developed/ https://openfalklands.com/st-helena-plans-for-an-island-wide...
- thefz 3y ago
  Good for them. Imagine living in a natural paradise with high speed fiber at home.
realo 3y ago
Apparently Sure is based in Bahreïn ... quite a few kilometers from the island. So why would they care about anything other than money?
Tijdreiziger 3y ago
Looks like service was upgraded after all, though: https://www.sure.co.sh/assets/Banner-Links/PRESS-RELEASE-Connecting-to-Equiano-Final-Updated-v3-3.pdf https://www.sure.co.sh/assets/Banner-Links/PRESS-RELEASE-Con...

antiviral 3y ago

For those of you interested in reading about work being done to start a new city (1) or new semi-autonomous country (2) where people can plan something new, St Helena Island sounds like a good candidate- remote but can still in the middle of several trade routes. (1) https://apnews.com/article/silicon-valley-tech-investors-new-city-housing-35f91416dd7d84ecb03ed08199d87dd5 https://apnews.com/article/silicon-valley-tech-investors-new... (2) https://www.wired.com/story/itana-binance-charter-cities-institute-africa-tech-startup/ https://www.wired.com/story/itana-binance-charter-cities-ins...

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maximilianburke 3y ago

Given their current slow satellite internet uplink I'm surprised they don't call it Saint Helena Island Telecom.

WarOnPrivacy 3y ago

On 6th February 2020 Sure announced that it had no plans to upgrade domestic and small-business Internet connections to Fibre-Optic when the Equiano Cable arrives in 2022, meaning ordinary users would not see the full benefits of the new system. Having their ISP refusing to connect customers to the long awaited fiber is the most Telco thing ever.

inemesitaffia 3y ago
They changed their minds, will offer unlimited data. But the down/up isn't quite there
- WarOnPrivacy 3y ago
  That's good news. I've been cheering for them since the 1st undersea cable deployment was announced (the one that fell through).