Fiji’s Amalgamated Telecom Holdings Limited (ATH) has operations across the Pacific, including Papua New Guinean subsidiary Vodafone PNG. Its CEO Ivan Fong talks to Business Advantage PNG about profits, growth and big guns like Google and Starlink.

ATH has operations in Fiji and across the Pacific, including in PNG through its subsidiary Vodafone PNG. Credit: BAI.

BAPNG: ATH reported a great financial result in 2024 with a net profit after tax of F$9.2 million (K16.8 million) – a 138 per cent increase. What do you put this result down to?

Ivan Fong (IF): Our blue-chip companies like Vodafone and Fiji Telecom generated good cash flow for us. We have a few key markets across the Pacific, but Fiji is very important. Vanuatu and Samoa have also done well. We have moved market share in both of those markets from 30 per cent penetration to around 50/50, going head-to-head with Digicel.

If things go according to plan, then Vodafone Papua New Guinea is going to be bigger than all of the rest of the companies in the group. Our market share by customer numbers is just over 30 per cent currently and we expect it to grow, along with the PNG economy.

“In a big market like PNG, we could work with Starlink to help us improve connectivity.”

BAPNG: How are you hoping to grow ATH over the next 12 months?

IF: We recognise that a lack of skilled workers in Fiji can be limiting for us, but we also have the benefit of operating in other Pacific markets.

ATH’s Ivan Fong

Our Papua New Guinea operation has more than 75 per cent graduates, and we have talented people in Samoa and in the Cook Islands. So, we are looking at a model of ‘reverse mobility’ where, if employees do well, they come into Fiji and we can build our resources here.

In terms of the markets, we see data consumption continuing to grow. This growth is being driven around entertainment, online platforms and, of course, AI.

In Fiji, there is room for growth in the digital strategies of government and in getting businesses online because there are still very few businesses online. From the ICT and telecoms space, that’s going to drive growth in the medium term and it is not dependent on population growth.

BAPNG: How concerned are you about competition from Starlink and Google?

IF: Starlink is the one that competes with us on the ground and that has had an impact. But we also see opportunities, especially wholesale deals that could help operators connect the unconnected. In a big market like PNG, we could work with Starlink to help us improve connectivity. We also think there is immense value for Starlink in the remote areas of Fiji and the Pacific.

Google is bringing in the Bulikula and Tabua subsea cables. The Pacific has pleaded for increased resilience and robustness in its networks for years and it’s not every day you get a cable running by your doorstep.

The challenge in many markets is funding, especially where the investments do not stack up. A lot of that will depend on Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the US State Department and others fronting up with support, but from our point of view, it’s an opportunity that people should earnestly look at.

It’s also about knowledge transfer, not just Google putting a cable in here. The real advantage is they do things that are leading edge. They might not want to share all of that with us, but there’s certain elements that would benefit our economies.

Also, Google, Amazon and Meta bring their own investment guidelines that require them to be sustainable and that is one of the things we want them to help us develop.

This will flip the whole data centre business model on its head. Businesses will not just be building data centres with good connectivity; they will also be building data centres where you have good economies around green energy.

Ivan Fong will be speaking at a special Fiji session at the 2025 Business Advantage PNG Investment Conference, which will also see the launch of a new business and investment guide to the country, Business Advantage Fiji.

You can register to attend the event and find out more information about it here.