Comments

Dear Professor Howes, Thank you very much for pointing out that the Ombudsman Commission has halted the Starlink licence in the courts. The initial announcement of a licence being issued received much media attention in January 2024. The subsequent developments received less attention and we had missed them. Thanks again for your help. Indeed, the Minister for Information and Communication Technology, Hon. Timothy Masiu MP, issued a statement just a few days ago, on 5 January 2025, titled “Clarification on Starlink Licensing Status in Papua New Guinea”. In the statement, he states that “Starlink has not been granted a license to operate in the country”. He essentially explains that the matter is before the court and he cannot comment further. Thank you again for drawing our attention to the court case. Regulatory challenges, as seen with the Ombudsman Commission’s intervention, underscore the need to monitor policy developments closely. We will do our best to monitor regulatory changes moving forwards. Amanda, Jonathan, Loretta and Hafford.

Dear Paul, Thank you for your detailed observations. Our apologies for the delay in preparing a considered response. You are right to point out that Digicel’s most accessible 1-day plan improved in terms of value in April 2024. On 15/04/2024 and for several months before that date, 100 megabytes of data cost one Kina, which represented a value of one toea per megabyte. On 22/04/2024, our weekly reading indicated that 1000 megabytes cost three Kina, which represented a value of 0.3 toea per megabyte. As you pointed out, this is a substantial improvement in terms of value. This pricing remained in place through to the last reading included in this post, i.e., the reading on 11/11/2024. On the same date in April 2024, other changes to Digicel’s pricing were observed. The 3-day plan ceased to exist. The 7-day plan improved slightly in terms of value. The 30-day plan also improved in terms of value. We acknowledge that we could have done more to emphasise the observed improvements in the value of Digicel’s pricing in April 2024. We did refer to price falls subsequent to the commencement of Vodafone’s operations in an update published in March 2024 (see https://devpolicy.org/mobile-internet-prices-falling-in-papua-new-guinea-20240320/ ) and perhaps we did not make enough of that development on this occasion. While our post focuses on price stability during 2024, we will bear in mind a need to emphasise improvements in future discussions. Your reference to the CPI data adds valuable context, which we appreciate. Thanks again for your interest in the research. Amanda, Jonathan, Loretta and Hafford.

Hi Benedette, came across this article and saw your comment. My Hubby got selected this week so I started my research and reaching out to people who have been selected. There was another lady I came across on LinkedIn, her hubby was selected. They got a job offer too in Sydney but I guess at this stage everyone is waiting for the Visa? Everyone has completed medical check-up, police clearance etc.

As a PNG citizen I am proud to take a chance to work overseas but I am 46 years old now. Are there any jobs within this program that does not require age?

Thank you, In-depth Solomons as you continue uncover corruption, fraud, mismanagement, nepotism and injustice. Tell the truth to power.

This article is strongly biased. You do not call for the release of innocent Israeli hostages, which would make a ceasefire more likely. You do not address the use of civilian areas by Hamas for military activities, a key cause of Palestinian deaths. You lay all blame on Israel, despite acknowledging that they did not start this war. Israel's humanitarian faults do not excuse one-sided commentary.

Good report, wantoks. The ADB is corrupt to the core. The MPs' family being involved in the project is no small matter. Wonder why nothing of benefit to is being seen in Honiara. The people should not accept this kind of direct pressure being imposed by the minister on technical people to accept a substandard quote.

Hi Amanda, Thanks for your team's ongoing analysis. You mention that "Starlink was given a licence in PNG in January 2024." Unfortunately, the Ombudsman Commission has appealed this decision to the courts. See https://www.thenational.com.pg/review-for-ocs-starlink-decision/. Regards, Stephen

Happy New Year to the authors and thanks for the analysis. In looking at the 3 figures provided, my sense is that the article's title of price stability applies to Vodafone, but does not apply to Digicel or Telikom. Looking at the Digicel graph, which is still the most important for Papua New Guineans as Digicel has well over half the market, it appears that there were major price reductions in April 2024. Specifically, the 1 day plan appears to have dropped by a massive 70%, from about 1 Toea per megabyte down to about 0.3 Toea. Similarly, there appears to have been a major reduction in the 30 day plan of around 50%, and a reduction, although smaller, in the 7 day plan. The Telikom story in 2024 appears somewhat mixed with price stability for 1 and 7 day plans, an increase for 3 day plans, and a reduction in 30 day plans of about 25%. Overall, given Digicel's market dominance, it appears that they shifted much more closely to the highly competitive Vodafone rates with massive reductions in prices. Although not captured by the research, it appears that Vodafone is successfully capturing market share from Digicel, which in itself also lowers the average internet cost. The National Statistics Office reports an overall drop in prepaid telephone services of 24.1% between June 2023 and June 2024 (Table 7 in its quarterly CPI release). Based on the major falls in Digicel's prices over this period, this number appears credible. My heading for the article would have been "Vodafone's entry forces Digicel to drop internet prices again in 2024".

Thank you for this blog post, which I read with interest. A friend of mine who's on Karkar Island in Madang Province of Papua New Guinea mentioned to me recently that farmers there are engaging in a project that has given them cocoa seedlings (or perhaps it was seeds). This blog post gives me hope for the farmers in Madang Province. Amanda

Great article. "Professions represented include administration, education, nursing, forestry, engineering, banking and finance, retail, logistics, mining, and law".... these are industries. "Professions" should be engineers, doctors, nurses, etc. Australia PEV compared to NZ, the latter is more organised. Organised in sense that applicants can actually upload CVs and profiles. This makes it easier.

Hi Natasha, Thank you for your insightful piece — it's important for all parties involved to take note of your observations. While the entire process could have been facilitated more effectively, I believe that some individuals managed to navigate it. The information you've diligently gathered should help improve the process moving forward. In my case, we have met all the requirements (including the additional requirements immigration requested from my family) and my spouse was suppoused to start work on December 16th. After several follow-ups with immigration and requests for them to expedite the visa grant process at the earliest opportunity, we are still waiting. All of our documentation was submitted well before the end of November, so the delay has become a significant concern. Following three phone calls with immigration, we were advised that our application is with the processing team and to regularly check our immigration account and emails; however, we have not received any updates. This prolonged wait has caused considerable uncertainty and stress for the family. We are also hopeful that the employer does not terminate the contract because of this delay. Anyway, I just wanted to share my experience after reading your article.