Telecoms and IT

PNG’s telecoms market is emerging from the stagnation of a government monopoly and has seen steady growth since liberalisation in 2007. With fixed-line penetration limited by geography, the country is targeting a rapid expansion of mobile networks in a bid to connect all of its citizens. Digicel, the top mobile provider, has been the primary benefactor in this shift, increasing its subscriber base to 1.6m and its market share to 84%. At the same time, the focus on mobile has done little to help boost internet connectivity, which suffers from slow speeds and strict bandwidth caps. This section has interviews with Jim Miringtoro, Minister for Communication and Information Technology; Charles Punaha, CEO, National Information and Communications Technology Authority (NICTA); and John Mangos, CEO, Digicel (PNG).