Telco merger on track: Duma

Business

By PETER ESILA
THE Telikom-bmobile merger is on track, with a major announcement to be made next month, State Enterprises Minister William Duma says.
Duma said he was not able to disclose details on the merger yet as there were other parties involved and commercial arrangements to consider. Prime Minister James Marape last month announced the merger of the two entities into a single retail telecommunications company Telikom Ltd.
Meanwhile, Duma said the rollout of the third operator in the telecommunications market, Vodafone, would be good for the market.
“We already have a third player, the new mobile company, Vodafone,” he said. Duma said Digicel presently enjoyed a lion’s share of the market at around 80 per cent but the arrival of a new competitor would ensure a competitive environment which would benefit the consumer.
“This is good for all of us, when there is competition, the prices are reduced, the quality is improved and the consumer, the ordinary people in PNG will benefit,” he said.
Vodafone Fiji chief commercial director Ronald Prasad said PNG was an emerging market with huge potential as the country continues its journey to transform into a modern nation.
“It means more competition, overall improvement in product portfolios resulting in better service delivery, competitive pricing and of course new ways of doing things,” he said.
“The existing providers, bmobile, Telikom PNG, DataCo and Digicel PNG have done well in terms of expanding the infrastructure and investing in it and now with Vodafone coming onto the ground, you should expect more competition.” Prasad said.