Photo: Telstra Logo
Following the approval of Telstra's purchase of Digicel PNG Ltd, the country would benefit from K200 million in capital expenditures in the telecommunications industry over the next two years.
The National Information and Communications Authority (Nicta) has given Telstra final approval to transfer licensing rights in the planned Digicel Pacific purchase.
Timothy Masiu, the Minister of Information, Communications and Technology, said it was the first time a major Australian telecoms corporation had made such a large investment in PNG.
“This means a lot to PNG because we are expecting more areas to be covered by the service that they (Telstra) are bringing.
“They will be building towers in areas which are not covered right now.”
Digicel PNG Ltd and Hitron Ltd are the only ICT service providers in the nation with their own operator licenses.
Kila Gulo-Vui, Nicta's chief executive officer, stated the company will invest up to K200 million in PNG over the next two years, including "capacity improvements from 3G to 4G of surviving Digicel networks."
“It also includes a buildup of additional communication infrastructure towers, upgrade of quality of services from 96 per cent to about 99 per cent,” he said.
“There is no question on Teltra’s capacity in terms of its technical expertise and financial ability. We expect that to flow into our economy that will contribute to the sectors development and aspirations.”
Responding on their thoughts on the approval by Nicta, a Telstra spokesman said: “We are pleased to receive unconditional approval from Nicta on our proposed acquisition of Digicel Pacific. We are working through the final completion steps of the acquisition.”
Reference: Luma, Dale. The National (12 April 2022). “Telstra gets nod from Nicta”.
