Companies need three licences to operate

 By SHIRLEY MAULUDU

In order to operate as an Information and Communication Technology (ICT) service provider in the country, one has to have the three licenses issued by National Information and Communication Technology Authority (NICTA), an official says.

NICTA chief executive Charles Punaha said this after the public grew confused over reports of Awal Telecommunications Corporation Ltd, which intends to move into the Papua New Guinea mobile market and spend millions of kina in investment in the country. 

Punaha said any ICT service providers could provide any service of their choice as long as they had the Content, Applications and Network licences from NICTA. 

The first licence, content, gives the right to an operator to provide mainly broadcasting services, while the second, applications licence, grants an operator to provide different ICT services such as internets, voice over, Internet protocol (IP) or mobile.

The third licence, network, comes in two parts; gateway and infrastructure network licence.

Gatewate gives right to the licence holder to provide network gateway facilities. Meaning it can connect between PNG and overseas. 

The infrastructure network licence gives the right to the licence holder to install, operate and construct information and communications technology (ICT) infrastructure facilities around the country.