Improvements in Papua New Guinea’s mobile infrastructure has seen rapid recent growth in subscribers to mobile broadband, according to telecommunications researchers BuddeComm. But low incomes, terrain, and lack of electricity are hindering greater access more quickly.
An K331 million undersea cable linking Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Australia is expected to be up and running by the end of 2019. It follows concerns by Australian officials that if China’s Huawei telco built the project, it could access Australia’s telecommunications infrastructure, creating national security concerns.
While a consultancy’s report has shown that internet costs in Papua New Guinea are amongst the highest in the world, prices are falling. Encouragingly, an agreement announced this week could see internet costs fall even further.
The rollout of PNG’s National Transmission Network is on track for completion later this year. It will transform the nation’s digital highway, but that does not mean there will not be challenges, telecommunications analyst Henry Lancaster tells Business Advantage PNG.