A profile of the information and communications technology sector in Papua New Guinea, including mobile phone companies, data providers and ICT service providers.

Industry snapshot

PNG is the largest telecommunications market in the Pacific but also one of the most expensive.

PNG is serviced by two international gateways: the PPC-1 cable out of Madang and the Coral Sea Cable System, which runs between Sydney and Port Moresby. Launched in 2019, the Coral Sea Cable System increase digital capacity by a thousand times, from 21 gigabytes to 20 terabytes, and data costs have fallen was a result.

Domestically, the National Transmission Network (NTN), of which the domestic Kumul Submarine Cable Network is part, is managed by PNG Dataco. A total of 12,000 km of fibre-optic cables has been laid to date as part of the NTN.

With the advent of greater competition, mobile phone usage has expanded from less than 3 per cent of the population in 2006 to 29.7 per cent market penetration (unique subscribers) in 2019; 48 per cent of Papua New Guineans had a mobile subscription in 2018, up from 13.8 per cent a decade earlier. As of 2024, mobile penetration is at an approximate 30 to 40 per cent of the population.

While some remote areas are still only serviced by 2G, 85 per cent of the market is now covered by 3G or, increasingly, 4G networks. PNG DataCo is also building a network of 500 carrier-neutral mobile towers to encourage retailers to take their services into uneconomic and remote areas.

In addition to fixed line and mobile towers, redundancy and remote telecommunications and data services in PNG are also provided via low-orbit satellite.

In September 2020, Fiji’s Amalgamated Telecom Holdings signalled its intent to enter PNG’s telecommunications market, supported by a US$25 million cornerstone investment from the Asian Development Bank. The roll-out, delayed due to COVID-19, was finally begun in April 2022, when Vodafone PNG was formally launched.

So far, Vodafone PNG has invested some K3 billion in its rollout and expects to have over 1000 mobile towers operational by 2025.

In October 2021, Australia’s largest telco Telstra announced a deal to acquire Digicel Pacific (which includes Digicel PNG), for US$1.6 billion, with financial assistance from the Australian government. The deal, which requires regulatory and government approvals, was completed in July 2022.

Regulatory environment

A licence from NICTA is required to provide ICT services in PNG.

NICTA is the sole converged regulator and licensing authority of the ICT industry in PNG under the National Information and Communications Technology Act 2009.

The sector also falls under the Cybercrime Code Act 2016.

PNG’s Department of Information and Communications Technology is responsible for policy in the ICT sector and also the roll-out of the national government’s Digital Government Plan, 2023-2027.

Key players

PNG’s telecommunications sector is dominated by three players: state-owned Telikom PNG (which includes Bmobile), Telstra-owned Digicel and ATH-owned Vodafone PNG.

Since 2019, it has been government policy to partially privatise Telikom PNG.

Exact figures of market share are not readily available but it generally accepted that Digicel dominates the market in the mobile space, with Vodafone second.

Telikom PNG is the key provider of fixed-line phone calls in PNG, as well as most fixed internet services. It also owns TV broadcaster EMTV. With bmobile and PNG Dataco, Telikom forms a family of state-owned ICT enterprises which report into the state-owned Kumul Consolidated Holdings.

Digicel, which launched in PNG in 2007, has invested K2.9 billion in PNG. It has 1100 towers, of which only 300 are on the electricity grid. Fuel from helicopter is dropped every week. The company claims 92 per cent market share.

A third retail telco, Vodafone PNG, was launched in April 2022. By the end of 2024, it claims it will have 851 operational mobile tower sites.

KCH subsidiary PNG DataCo is responsible for internet infrastructure and wholesale telecommunications services. It owns the Kumul Submarine Cable Network, which connects the 14 coastal provinces of PNG. The System Two network connects Port Moresby to Madang, via Alotau, Popondetta and Lae. PNG DataCo has a partnership with PNG Power to use its transmission poles and towers.

ICT services

While many larger businesses in PNG still outsource at least part of their ICT support to companies based overseas, especially in neighbouring Australia, PNG’s ICT services sector is increasingly sophisticated and now also includes software developers.

A number of Internet Service Providers (ISPs) provide IT services to business and consumers, including established players such as Datec and Daltron. A full list is available on the NICTA website.

PNG also has a growing network of tech professionals and SMEs, exemplified by the recent creation of the PNG ICT Cluster.

Key contacts

• Bmobile (telco)
• Datec (ISP and services)
• Daltron (ISP and services)
• Department of ICT (national government)
• Digicel (telco)
• Digitec (ISP and services)
• Global Technologies (ISP)
• NICTA (regulator)
• Online South Pacific (ISP)
• PNG Dataco (wholesale telco)
• Telikom PNG (telco)
• PNG ICT Custer
• PNG University of Technology (PNG’s domain name .pg registry)
• Vodafone PNG

Recent publications

• Digital Transformation: The Role of Mobile Technology in Papua New Guinea (GSMA Association, 2019)
• Connecting Papua New Guinea (Deloitte Centre for the Edge, 2019)

What else would you like to know?

This sector file is a living document created as a service to our subscribers. It is updated from time to time, as new information comes to hand.

Is there something else you’d like to know about this sector? Is there new information we haven’t included? Let us know in the Comment section below, or email editor@businessadvantageinternational.com and we’ll look into it.