Photo credit: Paulus Ain
According to the Independent Consumer and Competition Commission (ICCC), wholesale price reductions in internet broadband services are not passed on to consumers.
According to a statement, the telecommunications industry has undergone a progressive transition, with a number of internet service providers (ISP) now engaged in the retail end of the business.
This has increased the market's competitive pressure.
Because of the diversity of services supplied by ISPs, consumers, government offices/service providers, and businesses in distant locations and urban centres today have greater internet connectivity than they had 20 years ago, according to the report.
Consumers may pick which service providers to choose based on the sort of service they seek thanks to retail competition.
PNG DataCo Ltd (DataCo) has made significant investments in the national transmission network through satellites, terrestrial and submarine fibre optic cables, according to Commissioner and Chief Executive Officer Paulus Ain. DataCo was established in 2014 as a wholesaler of broadband internet services.
“Since 2018, DataCo has been reducing wholesale internet rates with a recent price reduction by 66 per cent in its metro fibre service, which came into effect on Nov 15, 2021,” Ain said.
The ICCC is worried that these significant wholesale internet broadband pricing reductions have not been reflected in retail broadband internet service reductions.
Last year, the ICCC wrote to the main ISPs, expressing their concerns and requesting an explanation.
It also questioned why the lower wholesale rates were not passed on to the general public.
“DataCo has made substantial reductions in wholesale internet rates since 2018, which has not translated into price reductions at the retail level during that period,” it said.
The ICCC also wrote to the National Information and Communications Technology Authority, which is in charge of information and communications technology regulation and licensing.
Reference: The National (14 January 2022). “Ain: Retail internet rates still high”.
