Telikom wrong to lay off 300 staff

 THE laying off of 300 employees of Telikom PNG Ltd is shows the board and management’s incompetence and arrogance. 

I pointed out previously that Telikom by virtue of Government legislation was supposed to transfer all its wholesale telecommunications and data assets to PNG DataCo. 

These assets include the APNG2 submarine cable, PPC-1 submarine cable, Gerehu Satellite Earth Station and the Tiare International Gateway. 

Under the Government’s plan, Telikom is supposed to concentrate on the retail end of businesses. 

If only Telikom had obeyed the Government decision, the 300 workers would retain their jobs while many more would be employed to carry out Telikom’s biggest project – linking users’ premises to the National Transmission Network by fibre optic. 

With an estimated two million users’ premises in our provincial towns and cities, Telikom will need to employ more people to construct and maintain its retail end fibre optics infrastructures thus creating more employment opportunities for Papua New Guineans. 

This is consistent with the change in technology where data network can support almost all forms of communications and at cheaper rates then what we are currently paying. 

Users will have access to high speed internet access for business, education, pleasure, entertainment, communications and many other opportunities. 

This is where Telikom core business future is and the management needs to focus on that. But that has not been the case. 

After receiving more than two hundred million dollars from Exxon Bank under the Government loan arrangement to implement the reform and concentrate on retail end of fiber optic link to users end, the Telikom management decided to buy into something outside of its core business. 

And the reasons given for the purchase of EMTV looks cosmetically vague relative to the present market value. 

Whose interest did Telikom serve in the purchase of EMTV? What is the principle purpose of using the loan money intended for the purpose of reforming Telikom core business to purchase EMTV? 

And why did Telikom laid off 300 Papua New Guineans whose family are obviously suffering at the expense of its Board and Management defiance and disobedience of Government decision? 

Minister for Public Enterprise and State Investment, Kumul Consolidated Holdings chairman and CEO, Telikom chairman and CEO have all gone quiet on this issue. 

I now urge the Prime Minister to order the Telikom board and management to reinstate these 300 employees and reinstate them and start working on its retail fibre optic link. 

This is where the future of Telikom lies and it must not mislead an intelligent Government for anything that is contrary to State’s principle interest which are providing employment, reduce internet cost,  provide high quality and reliable data communications to the people of Papua New Guinea, visitors and foreign investors. 

Samson Wena

Kerowagi, Chimbu