Govt relishes telco comp: Tammur

THE Government has a strong commitment to competition in the supply of telecommunication services.
Information and Communication Minister Patrick Tammur (pictured above) said in a statement yesterday that competition was here to stay and that the Government was strongly committed to the reform of the ICT sector in Papua New Guinea.
“This Government will build upon and improve on past efforts in ICT reform,” he said.
“The Prime Minister started the process with the Government policy to introduce competition in 2005 into the mobile sector. We have faced many challenges and this will not discourage us but drive us to continue to explore ways to get the benefits of competition to all Papua New Guineans,” Mr Tammur said.
The Government had a number of key objectives in its programme for ICT sector reform and one of these was securing the social and economic benefits of an efficient ICT sector, Mr Tammur said.
He said this could be achieved through having an efficient ICT infrastructure as the backbone of ICT policy with the use of technology appropriate to circumstances in PNG.
He said the Government aimed to substantially increase access to basic telecommunications services across PNG at affordable prices.
He said it was critical to have a transformed and efficient Telikom PNG and for PNG to enjoy effective and sustainable competition to deliver market discipline and the economic benefits.
Mr Tammur said the Government was also seeking to improve international capacity and connectivity to help PNG to truly become part of the international community.
“We aim to secure the benefits that can flow from increased availability and use of the internet,” he said.