ICT improving in PNG

INFORMATION and Communication Technology (ICT) is improving in terms of speed to market, delivering services quicker, visibility and transparency, an official says.
Image Consultants Ltd chairman Peter Loko said despite challenges such as high internet pricing and the lack of government support, the sector was improving.
The former Telikom PNG chief executive officer said the improvement would help the country achieve its national goals in terms of technology.
Speaking at a workshop in Port Moresby yesterday he said Papua New Guinea’s internet penetration was 2% in the Pacific region compared with Niue, the highest at 63%.
But, he said there was still room for growth.
According to the Asia Pacific ICT development index sector in 2011, PNG was ranked 30th and globally it was ranked 142.
Households with computers in PNG then were 3% and households that had access to internet were 2.5%.
Loko said: “The ICT industry over the last eight-10 years had improved in terms of the speed to market, delivering services quicker, visibility and transparency, people becoming more informed and educated.”
He said countries with a higher GDP per capita invested heavily in their ICT sector.
Loko said when telecommunication was deregulated eight years ago, Papua New Guineans experienced for the first time what the information age would do.
“The telephone penetration went from 1% to about 50% in a pace of eight years and in 2012 the mobile penetration was 2.7 million compared to 4.9 million in New Zealand and 24.3 million in Australia.
“Some of the challenges the sector faced were the high cost of internet in the country, policies and regulations to be upgraded, lack of government support among others,” he said.