Speech by Rt Hon Mekere Morauta KCMG MP
Minister for Public Enterprises
To mark the completion of the Lae-Madang optical fibre
telecommunications link
July 19 2012
Ladies and
Gentlemen, Madang is about 300 kilometres from Lae. The trip takes just under an hour, by Bird of
Paradise.
 |
| Sir Mekere Morauta |
Light travels
at about 300,000 kilometres per second. So
the light signal that carries our messages between the two cities over the new
fibre-optic cable that we will switch on tomorrow takes 1 millisecond to
complete the journey.
In reality
that is too short to make any sense at all to the ordinary man or woman such as
you and I. No normal person would notice the passing of such a brief moment in
time – the journey might as well be instantaneous.
What we will
notice, however, is a big improvement in our telecommunications, in particular
internet access speeds and mobile phone communications.
The activation
of this cable is part of a transformation of the social and economic landscape
of Papua New Guinea – the telecommunications revolution.
Much of what
is happening is a result of some visionary work done by my Government between
1999 and 2002.
My decision to
introduce competition into the telecommunications sector opened the door to
Digicel, and that one decision has changed our world forever.
The take-up of
mobile phones and internet services since then has revolutionised our personal
and business interactions.
Our
relationship with the rest of the world and to each other will never be the
same owing to our new and broad-based ease of access to knowledge and ideas, to
money and resources, to new organisations and interest groups, to different
cultures.
And the change
is not only limited to our major cities, where in the past it has tended to be
confined for very long periods. The
telecommunications revolution, most visible in the form of mobile phone towers,
is spreading into some of the most remote parts of the country.
But we could
have done so much better had more reforms been undertaken, rather than being
blocked or thrown out by the Somare regime.
In the past 10 years little of significance has been undertaken to
repair and extend our national physical and economic infrastructure.
Our Public
Enterprises, charged with delivering some of our most important services, have
been left under-funded and without policy direction; they have been abused and
manipulated for political purposes, and they have been treated as a personal
fiefdom.
They have
lacked the skills, the political leadership and the capital to make serious
progress on providing affordable, reliable and effective services to the
people.
National
development has stagnated.
My reforms
since becoming Minister in August last year have focussed on giving IPBC and
Public Enterprises a strong framework on which to provide those services.
I have concentrated
my efforts on giving them clear and consistent direction from government, on
making sure they are fully accountable and transparent, and that they operate
on fully commercial terms.
The SOEs have
now developed annual business plans and budgets and these have been approved by
the IPBC Board and National Executive Council for the very first time.\
The Annual
Plans and Budgets entrench within IPBC and Public Enterprises a continuous review
and improvement cycle that focus on financial efficiency and commercial
discipline, good governance and due process, and reaching acceptable levels of
customer service.
Ladies and
gentlemen, I hope this project is an example of how the incoming government
will do business – it clearly now has the tools to provide critical national
infrastructure and affordable, reliable and efficient services.
In August last
year the O’Neill-Namah Government identified this project as a priority and the
IPBC board approved the funding. At K5.6
million, the project is not big, but its impact will be very significant
indeed.
It fills in
what is known as the “Missing Link” in our telecommunications system between
here and Madang, where the international submarine cable comes ashore.
It uses an
existing PNG Power optical fibre built to support the Ramu electricity
transmission system. It involved installing various pieces of power and
telecommunications equipment and constructing support facilities along the
route.
Providing the
link will allow the expansion of high-speed internet, data and voice services
to private and corporate customers across the nation.
It will also
allow Telikom to go ahead with overdue repairs to the APNG international
submarine telecommunications cable, which has been operating at 50 per cent
capacity for some time.
And most
importantly for the future, the optical fibre link will form part of the
National Transmission Network, which IPBC recently began work on.
Revamping the
national telecommunications network will make a significant contribution to
national economic development and to improved delivery of services, especially
to rural and remote areas.
The
National Transmission Network is essentially an integrated optical fibre, satellite
and microwave network to be controlled by a new company called DataCo, which
was recently set up as part of the NTN plan.
DataCo
will own and operate the network as a wholesale provider of telecommunications.
It will initially consist of:
- Telikom’s existing domestic microwave,
satellite and optical fibre network, with the international gateways (Port Moresby
and Lae) and optical fibre submarine cable international links;
- PNG Power’s Optical Fibre Ground Wire
throughout Papua New Guinea (of which this Madang link is part) and;
- The Government’s interest in a
750-kilometre optical fibre cable being built to support the PNG LNG project.
Other elements will include upgrades
of existing telecommunications infrastructure and investment in new
infrastructure.
A feasibility study into how DataCo
will manage the system has already begun.
Telikom
PNG will be restructured and refinanced to become a national telecommunications
retail service provider. This role will become increasingly important given the
need to provide strong competition to Digicel, and to meet growing mobile phone
demand in rural and remote areas.
It is
estimated that capital funding of K500 million will be required under the NTN plan
to cover the cost of assets owned by Telikom and PNG Power, repair and
maintenance of existing infrastructure, the building of new infrastructure and
the restructuring and recapitalising of Telikom.
K5 million of
that funding has already been supplied by IPBC to get this K5.6 million Missing
Link project completed. Telikom did not
have the funds to pay, so IPBC paid, in order to complete this much-needed
link.
DataCo will be
required to meet Community Service Obligations, for which a policy is being
developed, and funding may be needed to cover the CSO-driven extension of
telecommunications services into areas of the country that may not be
profitable.
I am hopeful
that the incoming Government will see the wisdom and enormous benefit of
providing some of the total K500 million required for the NTN through the
Sovereign Wealth Fund, through a funding cell created to recapitalise and
rehabilitate SOEs, a concept I developed and recommended to the Government with
exactly this sort of application in mind.
This plan
represents a new start for telecommunications, which is one of the most
important drivers of national development.
Telecommunications
has been an obstacle to growth and prosperity, and the NTN plan is a way to
remove that obstacle and spur new growth.
It should be
seen in the context of several other nationally significant projects that IPBC
and its Public Enterprises have, all of them much bigger than this Lae-Madang telecommunications
link.
Work began two
months ago on the K740-million expansion of Lae’s port capacity, with
completion expected in 2015. Planning
work has also begun on the relocation of the Port Moresby wharves, which is a K1
billion-plus project.
Substantial
repairs and maintenance to the Yonki power station are expected to be finished
this year, and the expansion of output through a new mini-hydro power station
at the foot of the Yonki dam is expected next year.
A final
feasibility study is under way for a proposed K2 billion expansion of the
entire Ramu hydro scheme.
IPBC has also
received approval from National Executive Council to go ahead with feasibility
and planning studies for a number of new power schemes, including the Purari
River scheme.
Finally, we
are at an advanced planning and feasibility stage for a significant upgrade of
the Port Moresby sewerage system.
All of these
schemes are of great national significance, as well as being important to
cities such as Port Moresby and Lae.
They have the
capacity to transform national, regional and local economies, providing the
stimulus for economic growth, wealth generation and a broad improvement in the
quality of life of all Papua New Guineans.
I hope that
turning on this small but highly significant link marks the start of a new era
in national development and service delivery to the people.
