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Date Sent: Sunday, February 03, 2002 5:20 PM From: "Noel Mobiha" <ernet@tiare.net.pg> To: mlizarza <mlizarza@darkwing.uoregon.edu> Cc: "Steven G. Huter" <sghuter@nsrc.org>,Randy Bush <randy@nsrc.org> Subject: RE: The State of the Internet in Papua New Guinea >1) Could you please provide a brief technical description of the Papua New >Guinea's external connectivity to the Internet - including upstream >provider(s), international bandwidth of the link(s), etc. ? The PNG Telecommunications Act gives Telikom PNG the monopoly on the provision of telecommunication carrier services in PNG. As such Internet services are provided by Pacific Mobile Communications (PMC) - a subsidiary of Telikom. PMC which is defined as the ISP leases bandwidth from Telikom and on sells this to 5 Internet Service Distributors (ISDs). International bandwidth (linking PNG and Australia) is 6 Mbps: 2 Mbps goes into Telstra and 4 Mbps link goes to Optus as the upstream providers. >2) Please also list the URLs for each ISP, and contact information http://www.tiare.net.pg/tiare/isp.html -Datec (PNG) Ltd Ph. 325 9022 / Fax. 325 9066 http://www.datec.com.pg -Daltron Electronics Ltd Ph. 302 2200 / Fax. 325 6558 http://www.daltron.com.pg -Global Technologies Ltd Ph. 321 4322 / Fax. 321 4167 http://www.global.net.pg -High Tech Industries Ltd Ph. 325 7477 / Fax. 325 1820 http://www.hightech.com.pg -Online South Pacific Ph. 320 0633 Fax: 320 0611 http://www.online.net.pg >3) Can you please provide a short description of the academic network in the >country? PNG Education and Research Network (ERNet) is a Government of PNG intitiative to establish an infrastructure that will provide connectivity between education and research institutions (ERIs) in PNG as an implementation of Government Policy. It will interconnect Universities as POPs and from there provide access for ERIs. Of particular interest is the 'shouldering of lower educational institutions' to give Internet access to lower education. Services offered among many others are: affordable access to the internet, content delivery for distance education and flexible mode of learning, inter institutional database sharing, mirroring of offshore sites, hosting websites. In the short term there is about 10,000 users to be connected immediately. Within 5 years Internet access is expected to be given to 100,000 students. So far the donors of ERNet are the Australian Academic Network (AARNet), CSIRO, Deakin University Australia, Office of Higher Education (on behalf of the PNG Government) and the PNG University of Technology in Lae. ERNet website: http://kumul.ernet.unitech.ac.pg (This will change shortly once we register ernet domain name). >4)What do you see as the prospects for Internet growth in Papua New Guinea; >what would help it, and what are currently the major obstacles? Internet growth will be proliferated by ERNet. In the history of PNG there has never been any Government initiative that had or will have so much impact as ERNet. Within 5 years the roll on effect of ERNet will be realised. We will see increases in ISP customers and also increases in a small way in the number of residential customers to Telikom PNG. Other more relevant impact is the admission of students in tertiary institutions that are now more IT literate. This will raise the standard of education in country to another level. Noel <ernet@tiare.net.pg>
