Easter Island: what mobile internet and WiFi in 2024?
Easter Island is the most isolated inhabited area in the world. Tahiti is 4,000 km away, and the Chilean coast is 3,700 km to the east.
While Tahiti has been connected to the “rest of the world” via undersea fiber optic since 2010, which is economically justified by its population (200,000), the same is not yet true for Easter Island.
There have been several projects in recent years, but none have come to fruition. Few companies are motivated to invest an estimated one billion dollars to sell internet to just 8,000 residents.
But in 2024, that’s no longer necessarily essential, and you can get a very good connection on the island.
Mobile Internet
We arrived on the island with a Movistar SIM card.
Our phones had a good signal. At the airport, I was even able to check my emails.
But aside from that initial feat, it doesn’t work. Not at all.
The only operator that works is Entel. The operator even deployed the first two 5G antennas in June 2023.
The antennas are connected to the internet via satellite and give you a very decent internet connection.
Since we didn’t need internet when we were outdoors, we didn’t test it. But our guide confirmed that it works well.
WiFi
Since November 2022, Starlink has been available on Easter Island, and it changes everything!
Starlink is a service by SpaceX, Elon Musk’s space company that offers satellite internet antennas and subscriptions.
If you look at the rooftops of homes on Easter Island, you’ll regularly spot the square-shaped antennas characteristic of Starlink.
That was the case for our accommodation; here’s the result of a Speedtest.
It’s not fiber optic, but it’s still excellent, and much better than what you’ll get in many small French villages!
Only the ping remains poor, but there’s not much choice with a connection that goes through a satellite sitting 550 km above our heads.
In 2024, it’s therefore possible to have a good internet connection on Easter Island. In a few years, there won’t be a single square kilometer on Earth without network. I’m not really sure whether we should be happy about that.
