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Sports |
ICT policy important
MICHAEL Mayberry is a senior and
respected member of the PNG business community, and as president
of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, he represents a wide
group of similarly committed business entities.
Is he seriously advocating the introduction of unlicensed and
illegal telecommunications devices into the PNG economy, as he
suggested recently?
Is he advocating a free-for-all use of the spectrum, of
unregulated piracy corrupting PNG’s hard won regulatory
environment?
We have Pangtel, we have approval, we have respect for the law
and the regulations regarding use of the public radio spectrum,
and we now have, for the first time, a clearly articulated
national information technology policy, championed by a
minister.
All businesses, not just telecommunications, but all the
legitimate businesses that drive the PNG economy, depend on
respect for the law and the stamping out of unscrupulous
attempts at piracy and the sale of illegal products.
Wiser heads in the business community recognise that fixed line,
satellite, fast data transfer, submarine cable, remote area
services, widespread internet access, as well as international
respectability and protocols, are all the products of a stable
and dedicated national communications provider, not driven
solely by profit.
Telikom is the provider of all these essential national
development tools.
The prime minister has urged the small chorus of critics to read
the ICT policy and see that it is logical and designed for the
protection and betterment of all PNG subscribers.
The PNG public radio spec-trum is part of that plan, and a
precious national asset.
It’s corruption through the use of illegal devices, that is just
as much an affront to PNG as poisoned toothpaste and the theft
of natural resources, which the chamber members deplore.
Stable and constructive telecommunications policy is an
essential step forward for PNG, and must not be based on illegal
gadgets.
Right thinking members of the chamber would surely disclaim Mr
Mayberry’s assertion.
Frank Mills
Port Moresby
 
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