The renewal of the telecom license for Digicel and Vodafone in Vanuatu marks a significant milestone in the country's telecommunications industry development.
The ceremony of the signing and handing over of the licenses was held this week in Port Vila at the TRBR’s Office.
To mark this historical achievement, the Telecommunications, Radiocommunications and Broadcasting Regulator, Mr. Brian Winji Molitaviti said the Telecom industry in Vanuatu had come a very long way mentioning a few historical events in the past marking the telecom development; from the old system of telephony during the Post and Telecom era, to the introduction of AMPs and mobile phone in early 2000 by Telecom Vanuatu Limited, and from the monopoly system to the liberalization of the telecom market in 2008, the entrance of Digicel Vanuatu Limited, and amendment of the Telecom Act that saw the establishment of the Telecommunications and Radiocommunications Regulation Act No. 30 of 2009, that established the Office of the Telecommunications, Radiocommunications Regulator in Vanuatu.
Mr. Molitaviti took the opportunity to thank the two operators for their collaboration and the consultations undertaken in the past few months on the conditions of those telecom licenses.
The renewal of their License marks a major development and a milestone for the telecom industry in Vanuatu. Mr. Molitaviti acknowledged the challenges faced by these two main operators in providing telecom services in the country, especially to the rural areas, and thank them for their collaboration with the TRBR Office and their participation in the universal access policy implementation.
He emphasized the rapid growth of the telecom industry in Vanuatu, which has been recognized as the fastest growing sector in Vanuatu, and looks forward to the next 15 years to further develop the ICT landscape in Vanuatu”.
In support of Regulator Molitaviti’s statement, the Deputy Chief Information Officer of the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer (OGCIO) Mr John Jack acknowledged the major contribution provided by these two main operators in the telecom industry and the office of the Regulator for the well-regulated telecom Market in Vanuatu and added that the renewal of this telecom licenses shows the important role the telecom industry plays in the country.
He reiterated that with this fastest growth in the telecom sector or the ICT Sector, Vanuatu has been recognized and awarded back in 2015 with a UN/ITU ‘Award for ICTs in its Sustainable Development Goals.
In his concluding remarks, Mr. Jack urged the two operators to continue working in collaboration with the government and the TRBR to achieve more in the next 15 years.
“We want to see more developments in ICTs, improvement in affordable price, more coverage, improved quality service and innovative services for the consumers”, he added.
Both Digicel CEO Yaser Mayer and Vodafone CEO Thomas Bruce have expressed their appreciation to TRBR and the Government for the positive working relationship established over the past 15 years. They acknowledged the challenges they encountered in delivering telecom services, such as expanding coverage to rural areas, coping with the effects of natural disasters, and the high cost of wholesale international bandwidth. They further expressed their enthusiasm for ongoing collaboration in order to provide improved and innovative services within the telecom industry for the next 15 years.
In his concluding statement, the Regulator emphasizes the crucial role of infrastructure in the provision of digital connectivity, particularly meaningful digital connectivity in Vanuatu. He highlights the need for the necessary digital access infrastructure to be in place in order to bridge the digital divide in the country. The Regulator also stressed that the telecom sector alone cannot achieve this goal and called for collaboration from other sectors. The TRBR Office also anticipates increased collaboration and contribution from the two main operators as well to close the digital gap in Vanuatu.