A NEW report has found that mobile telephony is expected to continue outpacing growth in fixed-line connections in the Pacific as the market moves into 2008.
It also found that less than half of all Pacific Islanders had a phone.
The report, entitled “2008 South Pacific Islands-Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband”, found that penetration rates of telecom services in the region remained comparatively low, although mobile and internet penetration have gained traction in some of the more highly-populated and developed islands such as Fiji, Papua New Guinea and Guam.
The report said access to basic telecom services in the islands remained relatively expensive and internet cafes and tele-centres helped to address the issue of low internet penetration.
Authors of the report stated that the islands comprised a total economic market of about US$20 billion.
The Pacific Islands Trade Agreement governed the tiny proportion of trade that was conducted between the islands themselves in the region.
The islands covered included American Samoa, Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, French Polynesia, Guam, Marshall Islands, Nauru, New Caledonia, PNG, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, and Vanuatu.
Analysts said Fiji, which is one of the most developed on the Pacific islands, had recently seen beneficial regulatory changes.
For instance, they say that in November last year, after a lengthy process, the Fiji interim government passed a telecommunications bill that fully deregulated Fiji’s telecom sector.
The bill effectively ended the exclusive privileges granted to Telecom Fiji, Fintel and Vodafone Fiji.
Also, in the same period, Fiji’s first licensed voice over the internet provider (VoIP) service provider, VoiceNetIP (Fiji) Ltd, planned to launch commercial operations after waiting three years for its VoIP licence.
The study finds that Pacific leaders were aiming for a 2008 implementation of a major new undersea cable network and satellite links servicing island nations throughout the region.
This comes as a result of the 2007 Pacific Islands Forum in Tonga, and officials had revealed that strong progress had been made to the digital connectivity plan.
The report stated that mobile telephony was expected to continue outpacing growth in fixed-line connections as the market moves into 2008. New technologies are gaining ground in some island countries. – PNS