Digicel eyes data services

DIGICEL PNG has committed more than a billion US dollars in the PNG market over the last 12 months and it will continue to invest, says chief executive officer Colin Stone.
Stone said this when responding to questions from The National about the country’s Foreign Exchange (FX) problems.
“FX is something that affects every operator and all businesses in the country,” he said.
“Digicel obviously, the cost of upgrading our network is in US dollars so there is some impact but that isn’t something that I wake up every day and worry about.
“We have committed over a billion US dollars to this market in the last 12 years and we continue to invest money in this market.”
Stone said Digicel’s focus now and from next year would be on improving data-based services to the rural parts of the country.
“Digicel will continue to bring coverage and first would bring services to those that really need it.
“It will provide access to health services, access to education and those types of services that data can provide.
“Digicel’s focus this year was upgrading 174 towers and we have already put on coverage to 30 new places that didn’t have coverage last year.
“Our focus is to continue our 3G and 4G upgrade programme across the country, bringing data services to those that today don’t have data services and that’s our focus for the next 12 to 24 months.” Stone also said Digicel would be utilising the Coral Sea Submarine from Sydney to Port Moresby cable and: “We will work with government entities on how we can support them and their endeavours and how we can utilise the services that they provide.
“But the new submarine cable is coming into Port Moresby and a lot of people are not aware that there has been a submarine cable that has the same size going into Madang in the last 10 years.
“What that connects is one part of the country, we have a microwave network that is four-and-a-half times bigger than what is going from Port Moresby through to Sydney.
“It’s the distribution of that data across the country that’s important.”