High internet costs due to lack of infrastructure

By MALUM NALU

The National

Monday, May 22, 2013

Internet costs are very high in Papua New Guinea because of lack of necessary infrastructure like optical fiber, according to leading PNG telecommunications engineer, Mathew Wari.

Wari, who is now based in the USA, said this last Friday when asked by internet costs were very high in PNG.

Optical fiber is used by many telecommunications companies worldwide to transmit telephone signals, internet communication, and cable television signals.

 Fiber-optic communication is primarily installed in long-distance applications, where they can be used to their full transmission capacity, offsetting the increased cost.

Fiber-optic communication is a method of transmitting information from one place to another by sending pulses of light through an optical fiber.

The light forms an electromagnetic carrier wave that is modulated to carry information.

First developed in the 1970s, fiber-optic communication systems have revolutionised the telecommunications industry and have played a major role in the advent of the Information Age.

Because of its advantages over electrical transmission, optical fibers have largely replaced copper wire communications in core networks in the developed world.

“The main reason why internet is so expensive here is because we don’t have infrastructure like optical fiber rings in PNG,” Wari told The National.

“By that, I mean fiber which runs from Port Moresby to Alotau, Lae, and then to the New Guinea Islands, then internet will come out cheap.

“Fiber is the only medium for fast internet.

“We don’t have that.

“Unless that comes in, internet will be hard to roll out.”

Wari’s company, Wantok Wireless, is offering a cheaper internet alternative to PNG through a VSAT link to Hawaii, and then fiber-optic links to mainland USA.

The state-of-the-art very short aperture terminal (VSAT) satellite communication system which Wantok Wireless set up for the National Weather Service.

“Currently, most people (in PNG) are paying for cap bandwidth,” he said.

“You are only allowed to download to a certain limit, and then you start paying by megabytes.

“What Wantok Wireless is offering is unlimited internet usage, fixed bandwidth, monthly payment, and single link into USA via Hawaii, and then fiber into mainland USA.”