Internet prices to be announced

SPECIFIC internet pricing for the Coral Sea Cable will be announced by next week, according to the National Information Communication Technology Authority (Nicta).
Chief executive officer Charles Punaha said there should be a further substantial reduction in the internet price.
“After consulting with the minister (Timothy Masiu), we will be making an announcement next week on our specific pricing principles for the Coral Sea Cable,” he said. “This provides for the pricing objectives and it will see a substantial reduction in the internet price.”
Determinations that Nicta has made will be gazetted.
“This will also provide further incentives for the players in the sector, both the operators and service providers, to provide more open competition in the sector,” Punaha said.
“That determination also provides for infrastructure sharing, especially for those infrastructure facilities that’s being constructed under our universal access.
“We are now going to make it mandatory so that will provide further competition in the market.”
The Coral Sea Submarine Cable coming from Sydney, Australia, connecting Honiara, Solomon Island and Port Moresby is a high-speed fibre-optic cable that will be a game-changer for businesses in the country.
When announcing the reduction in July, former minister for information and communication technology Rainbo Paita said on average, internet prices had been reduced by 70 to 80 per cent.
Paita said it was consistent with the Government’s plan to transform and grow the country’s economy, cultivate new practices and provide new jobs.
Telikom PNG’s 2GB (gigabytes) for seven days which previously cost K18 is now K10.
Bmobile’s 150MB (megabytes) for seven days was previously K10. It is now 2GB for K12.
The new data rates for bmobile were: 500 MB for one day for K3; 1 GB for three days for K6; 2GB for seven days for K12; 10GB for 30 days for K55 and 20GB for 30 days for K150.”
According to PNG Dataco, work of laying the US$92 million (K305 million) Coral Sea Submarine Cable from PNG and Solomon Islands reached Sydney in August.
Australia’s Vocus Group and Alcatel are partnering with PNG Dataco Ltd in delivering the project.