Fiji to issue permits to 4 telcos today

SUVA: Four new telecommunication licences will be issued in Fiji today following a deregulation of the industry, The Fiji Times reports.
Interim minister for commerce Taito Waradi confirmed this yesterday after the process to dismantle the 10-year-old monopoly the industry enjoyed.
Waradi said a signing ceremony for the settlement deed will be held today when Amalgamated Telecommunication Holdings (ATH), Vodafone, Telecom Fiji Ltd and Fintel will be given a new licence as part of the deregulation.
“The details and shape of the deregulated environment are contained in the Radisson Telecom Accord. The details will be disclosed tomorrow (today).”
New licences will be issued to the operators at the signing ceremony.
“The legislation has already been approved,” Waradi said.
He said stakeholders were tightlipped over the accord because cabinet and the board of ATH, Vodafone, TFL and Fintel had not ratified the accord.
“The ratification by all parties was completed last Nov 27. It will be a good Christmas present for those who have waited 10 years to see the telecom industry deregulated.
“It will make a big difference not only for urban dwellers but the rural
areas. This time last year, calls were FJ$1.80 a minute. Today it is FJ$0.07 a minute. That is an achievement.”
However, the new mobile telephone players will not be able to begin their operations until October.
This was one of the conditions set out in the deed of settlement of the Radisson Telecom Accord, the regional monthly magazine, Islands Business International said.
The accord was signed between incumbent telecom operators – Telecom Fiji, Fiji International Telecommunications Ltd (Fintel), their parent company, Amalgamated Telecom Holdings and the government last month.
A copy of the document obtained by Islands Business magazine contained details of what the government was prepared to give to incumbent carriers in return for the revocation of their current licences, which had given them exclusive rights to provide domestic and international telecommunication services.
Fiji’s mobile telephone market was presently in the area of interest for new investments in the telecom sector, with a number of companies, including Caribbean-based provider, Digicel, wishing to enter the domain.
“The government shall not permit any new operator and or licensee who is entitled to operate a mobile network and offer mobile services, other than Vodafone, to offer commercial mobile services to the public before Sept 30, 2008,” the document as part of the government/ Vodafone Fiji agreement, said.
Waradi had gone on record saying Fiji could only accommodate three mobile networks as per available radio spectrum for the GSM 900 mobile standard. – PNS