Papua New Guinea - Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband

Description

The Papua New Guinea - Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband - Statistics and Analyses report includes all relevant BuddeComm research data and analysis. Covering trends and developments in telecommunications, mobile, internet, broadband, infrastructure and regulation. Please review the Executive Summary and Table of Contents for more details.

Independent Consumer Competition Commission concludes inquiry into Papua New Guinea's broadband market

Broadband prices are extremely high in Papua New Guinea, meaning internet

access remains out of the reach of the majority of the population. The ITU's 'Measuring the Information Society Report, 2018', found Papua New Guinea to be one of the most expensive markets in the world, in terms of broadband prices (ranking it 157th out of the 187 countries surveyed). Only around 22% of the population is connected to the internet, falling far behind the targets recommended in the country's National Broadband Policy, which was drafted in 2013.

In the fixed line segment, prices are driven by factors including the high costs of network deployments as well as a lack of sufficient competition. Mobile broadband, meanwhile, is gaining traction as a cheaper, more easily accessible alternative, buoyed by operators' expansion of 3G and 4G networks in recent years. However, costs in this segment are also high, relative to the low-income base of consumers. A deficit of submarine cable infrastructure also weighs on the country's prospects for cheaper international bandwidth.

In April 2022, the Independent Consumer Competition Commission released the findings from its preliminary inquiry into Papua New Guinea's broadband market. The inquiry was initiated due to consumers' complaints about the prices for internet services in the country.

Issues raised by the inquiry include prolonged outages in connectivity from the state's wholesale data service provider Dataco, as well as high wholesale prices provided by Dataco.

In 2022, the National Information and Communications Technology Authority is also expected to launch its own inquiry into the retail broadband market.

1 Key statistics

2 Country overview

3 Telecommunications market

3.1 Market analysis

4 Regulatory environment

4.1 Historical overview
4.2 Regulatory authority
4.3 Fixed-line developments
4.4 Mobile market developments

5 Mobile market

5.1 Market analysis
5.2 Mobile statistics
5.3 Mobile infrastructure
5.4 Mobile broadband
5.5 Major mobile operators
5.6 Mobile content and applications
5.7 Mobile handsets

6 Fixed-line broadband market

6.1 Introduction and statistical overview
6.2 Internet Exchange Point (IXP)

7 Digital economy

8 Fixed network operators

8.1 Kumul Telikom Holdings Company

9 Telecommunications infrastructure

9.1 National telecom network
9.2 National Transmission Network (NTN)

10 Appendix Historic data

11 Glossary of abbreviations

12 Related reports

Table 1 Top Level Country Statistics and Telco Authorities - Papua New Guinea 2023 (e)
Table 2 Evolution of GDP in PNG 2012 2023
Table 3 Telecom sector development goals 2010; 2015; 2020; 2025; 2030
Table 4 Growth in the number of mobile subscribers and penetration 2012 2027
Table 5 Percentage of mobile connections by technology 2018; 2025
Table 6 Growth in the number of active mobile broadband subscribers and penetration 2012 2027
Table 7 Mobile operators' market share of subscribers 2014; 2016; 2018;2020;2021
Table 8 Digitec Group financial data (FJD million) 2019 2020
Table 9 Digicel PNG mobile subscribers 2014 2018
Table 10 Growth in the number of fixed broadband subscribers and penetration 2012 2027
Table 11 Fixed lines in service and teledensity 2012 2027
Table 12 International bandwidth 2012 2017
Table 13 Historic - Fixed lines in service and teledensity 1996 2011
Table 14 Historic - International bandwidth 2004 2009
Table 15 Historic - Digicel PNG and Digicel Group revenue (US$ million) 6M 2015; 2016
Table 16 Historic - Bmobile mobile subscribers 2014 2016
Table 17 Historic - Internet users and penetration 2008 2011
Chart 1 Growth in the number of mobile subscribers and penetration 2012 2027
Chart 2 Percentage of mobile connections by technology 2018; 2025
Chart 3 Growth in the number of active mobile broadband subscribers and penetration 2012 2027
Chart 4 Growth in the number of fixed broadband subscribers and penetration 2012 2027
Chart 5 Fixed lines in service and teledensity 2012 2027
Exhibit 1 Map of Papua New Guinea
Exhibit 2 Privatisation of Telikom PNG historic overview
Exhibit 3 Papua New Guinea - Mobile operators and technology used
Exhibit 4 Kumul Telikom (Telecom) Holdings
Exhibit 5 VSAT connects remote Manus Islands
Exhibit 6 Major submarine cables with landing points in Papua New Guinea 2020
Exhibit 7 The laying of APNG-2 a recycled submarine cable

Papua New Guinea - Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband - Statistics and Analyses