Papua New Guinea has one of the highest internet rates in the Pacific Region.
This has prompted ICT Regulator NICTA and internet service providers to come up with ways of reducing high internet costs.
All stakeholders are currently attending a two-day Internet Exchange Point workshop at the Lamana Hotel in Port Moresby to find solutions.
In his opening remarks, Minister for Communication and Information Technology Jimmy Miringtoro, told participants that despite the government’s introduction of the broadband policy in 2013 that will open the Internet gateway, Papua New Guinea continues to have high costs of internet access.
Echoing the message was the Chief Executive Officer for NICTA, Charles Punaha.
Organized by the regulator, National Information & Communications Technology, Information, or NICTA, with international support from the Global Internet Society or ISOC group, the workshop was well attended by internet service providers and those in the business of information technology.
Since 2007, when internet access was first introduced, the cost of internet was K3 per megabyte.
Flash forward to now, in 2014, where the cost of internet is now 10t per megabyte. One telecommunications company that has helped to improve communication and accessibility is Digicel PNG.
Director of Government Business Gary Seddon says there’s room for improvement.
BeMobile Group Chief Executive Officer Sundar Ramamurthy said the high cost of internet is a big challenge. The government has set up a vehicle called DATECO to run fibre optic cable across the country from overseas.
All stakeholders at the workshop will look into the possibility of setting up an Internet Exchange Point or IXP in the country.
An IXP Point is a physical location where different Internet Protocol networks meet to exchange local traffic with each other.
Having one in Papua New Guinea would help to reduce the cost of internet services.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=KlXXjyYn90o%3Ffeature%3Doembed%26wmode%3Dopaque%26showinfo%3D0%26showsearch%3D0%26rel%3D0
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