Tammur predicts bright future under NICTA

National, Normal

MINISTER for Communication and Information Patrick Tammur has welcomed the appointment of Charles Punaha as the inaugural chief executive officer of the National Information and Communication Technology Authority (NICTA).
Until his appointment, Punaha was the director-general of Pangtel, the predecessor of NICTA. His appointment will be for four years.
Tammur also welcomed the appointment of Ansgar Palauva as the chairman of the NICTA board for five years and Vore Veve as a NICTA board member for four years.
The independent international expert on the board is Dr Bob Horton, whose appointment will be for three years. Australia-based Horton was a former CEO of Australia communications and multimedia authority who also served as three-time chairman of the authority.
Tammur said from last Friday, NICTA effectively replaced Pangtel as the sole ICT regulator in the country.
“All regulatory functions of Pangtel have now been transferred to NICTA. This includes the regulatory functions that were earlier vested in the Independent Consumer and Competition Commission (ICCC),” Tammur said.
He said Punaha had worked in the communication industry for more than 10 years, which would be greatly beneficial to NICTA at this formative stage.
At close of business yesterday, Punaha closed Pangtel accounts at K44 million, of which K10 million was in cash, K14 million in retained earnings and K20 million in assets.
Tammur said these figures had been disclosed in an independent audited report of Pangtel by international accounting firm, KPMG International, engaged under the government’s ICT policy and regulatory reform initiative which consequently saw the abolition of Pangtel and setting up of NICTA.
Meanwhile, Tammur also thanked the outgoing members of the Pangtel board Noel Mobiha, John Nulai and Henao Iduhu.
“I am confident that the price of service will drop drastically as more and more new investors enter the market.
“Service will improve under the new ICT competition regime,” Tammur said.