ICT services chewing up 90pc of income

National

By MARK HAIHUIE
CONSUMERS in the country spend up to 90 per cent of their disposable income on information and communication technology services, a meeting was told yesterday.
The chief executive of the National Information and Communications Technology Authority (Nicta), Charles Punaha, told the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Business Advisory Council (Abac) micro to small medium enterprises and innovation summit in Port Moresby that the information came from a recent study by the International Telecommunication Union.
“Compared to only 5 per cent in Australia, this indicates that despite ICT services being expensive, people are still accessing (them). Nowadays it has become a tool for conducting business, for educational purposes and generally to enhance and an individual’s development,” he said.
He said Nicta had been limited in preforming its regulatory role due to a particular operator repeatedly taking court action on several issues.
There are plans to have greater control over retail internet pricing, he said. “Just two months ago, I submitted a recommendation to my minister (Sam Basil) on the retail service determination looking at the pricing on 27 July,” Punaha said.
“While my recommendation is with the Minister who has 60 days to make a determination, unfortunately somebody has gone through an appeals process, and stopping us from that.
“These are challenges that we have.”