Photo credit: The National
According to State Enterprises Minister William Duma, the Telikom-bmobile merger is on track, with a big announcement expected next month.
Duma said he couldn't talk about the merger yet since there were other parties involved and business agreements to think about. Prime Minister James Marape stated last month that the two companies will merge to become Telikom Ltd, a single retail telecoms business.
Meanwhile, Duma stated that the launch of Vodafone, the third telecoms provider, will be beneficial to the sector.
“We already have a third player, the new mobile company, Vodafone,” he said. Duma said Digicel presently enjoyed a lion’s share of the market at around 80 per cent but the arrival of a new competitor would ensure a competitive environment which would benefit the consumer.
“This is good for all of us, when there is competition, the prices are reduced, the quality is improved and the consumer, the ordinary people in PNG will benefit,” he said.
PNG is an emerging market with tremendous potential, according to Vodafone Fiji chief commercial director Ronald Prasad, as the country continues its transformation into a modern nation.
“It means more competition, overall improvement in product portfolios resulting in better service delivery, competitive pricing and of course new ways of doing things,” he said.
“The existing providers, bmobile, Telikom PNG, DataCo and Digicel PNG have done well in terms of expanding the infrastructure and investing in it and now with Vodafone coming onto the ground, you should expect more competition.” Prasad said.
Reference: Esila, Peter. The National (4 October 2021). “Telco Merger On Track: Duma”.
