Tonfön is a

Tonga Tonga (, ; ), officially the Kingdom of Tonga ( to, Puleʻanga Fakatuʻi ʻo Tonga), is a Polynesian country and archipelago. The country has 171 islands – of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in ...

telecommunications Telecommunication is the transmission of information by various types of technologies over wire, radio, optical, or other electromagnetic systems. It has its origin in the desire of humans for communication over a distance greater than tha ...

company, founded in 2002 by its chairman, (at that time Crown Prince) Tupoutoa. It operates as a division of the

Shoreline Group of Companies A shore or a shoreline is the fringe of land at the edge of a large body of water, such as an ocean, sea, or lake. In physical oceanography, a shore is the wider fringe that is geologically modified by the action of the body of water past a ...

. The umlaut on the second 'o' is not pronounced, but is purely for effect. Tonfön is one of Tonga's two major telecommunications providers (the other being

TCC TCC may refer to: Companies *Taiwan Cement Corporation * The Casual Courier * The Clearing Corporation *Trammell Crow Company * Travancore Cochin Chemicals, Kochi, Kerala, India *The Coring Company, Mo i Rana, Norway Organizations *Tanana Chie ...

), offering phone, internet and television services. The company relies on profit from the sale of

phone cards A telephone card, calling card or phonecard for short, is a credit card-size plastic or paper card, used to pay for telephone services (often international or long-distance calling). It is not necessary to have the physical card except with a st ...

SIM cards A typical SIM card (mini-SIM with micro-SIM cutout) A file:Simkarte NFC SecureElement.jpg">thumb"> thumb">A TracFone Wireless SIM card has no distinctive carrier markings and is only marked as a "SIM card" A SIM card (full form Subscriber Ide ...

mobile Mobile may refer to: Places * Mobile, Alabama, a U.S. port city * Mobile County, Alabama * Mobile, Arizona, a small town near Phoenix, U.S. * Mobile, Newfoundland and Labrador Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels * Mobile ...

, home phone &

internet access Internet access is the ability of individuals and organizations to connect to the Internet using computer terminals, computers, and other devices; and to access services such as email and the World Wide Web. Internet access is sold by Internet ...

packages, and the sale of TV

set-top box A set-top box (STB), also colloquially known as a cable box and historically television decoder, is an information appliance device that generally contains a TV-tuner input and displays output to a television set and an external source of si ...

es enabling subscriber access to seven 24-hour pay-TV channels on

Tonfön Television Tonfön Television is a Tongan pay TV service commencing in 2002, offering seven 24-hour channels of movies, news, sport and entertainment. Among the channels available are ABC Asia Pacific, BBC World, Fox News, in addition to four locally programm ...

. On 16 November 2006, the Shoreline/Tonfön offices located in the Nukualofa suburb of Mailetaha were trashed and burned to the ground by rioting pro-democracy protesters. Six people, presumed to be rioters, died in the blaze.

References

Tongan culture 2002 establishments in Tonga {{Tonga-stub