Vodafone PNG, which entered Papua New Guinea’s mobile sector earlier this month, has said that it remains open to the possibility of infrastructure sharing with the country’s incumbent operators. According to local press outlet Post Courier, regional CEO Pradeep Lal recently confirmed that the new cellco is currently rolling out a new greenfield network, constructing all new towers as part of its entry into the local mobile sector. However, Mr Lal was reported to have said that Vodafone PNG had initially held talks on tower leasing with both Digicel PNG and Telikom/bemobile, though it no workable arrangements had been reached in this regard – hence the decision to press on with constructing new towers. Nonetheless, there remains the possibility that tower sharing could be reconsidered, with Lal cited as saying: ‘We remain open to further discussion if the incumbents in the market are amenable to tower sharing arrangements’.
Only last week, following an official launch event, the newcomer confirmed it had switched on ‘just over 500 base stations, covering Port Moresby, Lae, Madang, Hagen and Goroka, which covers approximately 50% of the population’. Looking ahead, the cellco has said it aims to have 800 sites live in the next eight months, progressively expanding coverage to 22 provinces, while within twelve to 18 months it targets 1,200 sites in operation, and 90% population coverage.