Niue’s WiFi Internet Survived Cyclone’s Devastation
.NU Domain Services, All Located in the US and Europe, Also Still Running Safely and Securely
MEDFIELD, MA, January 19, 2004 – .NU Domain Ltd. today announced the successful restoration of the devastated island of Niue’s Internet link and WiFi services. On January 5th, cyclone Heta, a category 5 cyclone with winds travelling at 300 kph, ripped through the island, destroying everything in its path, including the hospital, hotels, the island’s telecommunications antenna and numerous homes. All electricity and communications links were cut and fuel storage tanks were destroyed, leaving Niueans with no communication capabilities with the rest of the world until last weekend.
Staff of the island’s Internet Users Society (IUS-N), .NU Domain’s charitable foundation set up to maintain free Internet services for the people of Niue, have worked tirelessly to restore the country’s Internet infrastructure since the cyclone hit. IUS-N administrative manager Stafford Guest, who was in New Zealand during the storm, returned to Niue on the first flight available, with replacement equipment for the Internet services and WiFi services.
“Most of the equipment survived,” said IUS-N technical manager, Richard St. Clair. “That’s because we stored it all in a water-tight metal shipping container before the cyclone hit.”
“Some WiFi antennas were lost,” said Emani Lui, who originally installed and tuned the antennas for the WiFi service. “But many have now been repaired or replaced and are functioning normally. (see http://www.niue.nu for more information)
Portions of revenues derived from .NU domain name registrations have funded IUS-N’s activities in Niue since 1997, including development of the Internet infrastructure and training of local staff to manage Niue’s free national Internet link; funding and installation of the world’s only national free WiFi net; as well as paying for computers, text books and sports clothing for the island’s schools.
The cyclone in Niue caused no disruption in .NU Domain’s customers’ domain name servers, web sites and other technical services. .In order to avoid the risks associated with unpredictable and destructive storms of the South Pacific, .NU Domain has always operated its servers and operations in secure professionally managed sites in Europe and the United States.
“We knew it was critical that Niue’s communications infrastructure be rebuilt as quickly as possible. We are proud of the efforts of the team in Niue who have been working since the storm hit to restore Niue’s Internet link,” said J. William Semich, founder and CEO of .NU Domain. “In addition, we are committed to repairing or replacing any damaged or destroyed equipment that .NU Domain has donated to Niue”
.NU Domain is calling on its customers around the world to support the aid effort through the Red Cross’s Pacific Cyclone Relief web fund. “Niue needs help now, and we urge those who want to donate money to support the New Zealand Red Cross relief effort,” said Semich. The New Zealand Red Cross have been active on the island from the start and are delivering clothes, cooking equipment and first-aid kits for those that have been made homeless. The Red Cross Cyclone relief fund can be reached through the link www.redcross.org.nz.
About .NU Domain Ltd
.NU Domain Ltd, a US-based private corporation, is the leading commercial Top Level Domain Name Registry serving Northern Europe. It is also the only Top Level Domain in the world that can support the complete UNICODE international character set in Web addresses, using its unique patent-pending technology. .NU Domain Ltd targets international end users and the small office/home office (SOHO) market. Besides its free blogging service at http://www.blogga.nu , .NU Domain Ltd also offers domain name parking services for customers who need to lock in a domain name but have no immediate plans to use it, the .NU InstantWeb Service that provides a quick, five-page mini Web site, or URL forwarding for your .NU domain name to a personal Web site without a unique domain name, and .NU InstantMail Forwarding so AOL, Hotmail and other mail service users can have a unique .NU e-mail address. You can visit .NU Domain Ltd on the World Wide Web at http://www.nunames.nu. A portion of the registration fees for .NU domain names is allocated to pay all the costs of free Internet services in the island of Niue.
Contacts:
J. William Semich
NU Domain Ltd
+1 508/359-5600
bill@nic.nu
Source: .NU Domain Ltd