South Pacific Islands - Regional Market Overview & Statistics

Synopsis

Penetration rates of telecom services in the South Pacific Island region are still comparatively low, with large differences between urban and rural areas where coverage is usually poor. Access to basic telecom services remains relatively expensive. Less than half of all Pacific Islanders had a phone and generally only had one supplier for any particular fixed, mobile or Internet service. A. lack of reliable fixed infrastructure combined with cheaper installation costs has enabled mobile services to make significant inroads into the market. Mobile telephony is expected to continue outpace growth in fixed-line connections as the market moves into 2009. New technologies are gaining ground in some island countries. Several of the South Pacific nations are upgrading satellite links to outer islands, installing wireless broadband and upgrading fixed-line broadband capability and some are rolling out high-speed ADSL2+ broadband.

Table of Contents

• 1. Synopsis
  
• 2. Regional overview
  
  • 2.1 Population and economy
    
• 3. Telecommunications market
  
  • 3.1 Overview of telecoms in Pacific Island countries
    
• 4. Regulatory environment
  
  • 4.1 Overview
    
  • 4.2 Asia-Pacific Telecommunity (APT)
    
  • 4.3 Pacific Islands Forum and its Secretariat
    
  • 4.4 The Secretariat of the Pacific Community
    
• 5. Major international players in the region
  
  • 5.1 Alcatel Pacific Islands
    
  • 5.2 Cable & Wireless (C&W)
    
  • 5.3 Paclink
    
  • 5.4 Vodafone
    
  • 5.5 Digicel
    
• 6. Financial and community assistance
  
  • 6.1 Andorra’s telecoms operator
    
  • 6.2 European Investment Bank
    
  • 6.3 The One Laptop Per Child Program
    
• 7. Telecommunications infrastructure
  
  • 7.1 Overview
    
  • 7.2 Next Generation Network (NGN) developments
    
    • 7.2.1 Overview
      
    • 7.2.2 University of the South Pacific connects to AARNet
      
    • 7.2.3 Telcom Fiji overhauls IT systems
      
    • 7.2.4 Papua New Guinea
      
  • 7.3 International infrastructure
    
    • 7.3.1 Submarine cable networks
      
    • 7.3.2 Satellite networks
      
• 8. Broadband market
  
  • 8.1 Overview
    
• 9. Mobile communications
  
  • 9.1 Overview of South Pacific Islands mobile market
    
• 10. Mobile subscribers
  
• 11. Related reports
  

• Table 1 – Mobile subscribers in South Pacific by country – 2003 - 2008
• Table 2 – Mobile penetration in Oceania by country – 2003 - 2008
• Table 3 – Broadband subscribers in the South Pacific by island – 2003 - 2008
• Table 4 – Broadband subscriber penetration in the South Pacific by island – 2003 - 2008

• Exhibit 1 – Principal C&W operating companies and services in the South Pacific
• Exhibit 2 – Major submarine cables and landing points in the Pacific region
• Exhibit 3 – Broadband availability by access type – 2008
• Exhibit 4 – South Pacific Island countries and operators with GSM networks