Following a year of offering satellite services to its end users for the first time, Papua New Guinea’s Telikom is working with Kacific Broadband Satellites Group (Kacific) to further expand its network coverage and also provide redundancy/backup for its fibre network. The strategic partnership agreement will also allow Telikom to expand Kacific’s ‘Gigstarter’ services across all parts of PNG.
Telikom signed up with Kacific in mid-2021 to offer satellite broadband to hard-to-reach customers, and has reached over 150 sites including schools, hospitals, governments, churches and other users in highland regions. The ongoing partnership will provide Telikom with greater capacity to connect its residential and business customers; offering a fully managed service and ‘pay-as-you-grow’ plan, Kacific’s Gigstarter model ensures that remote communities can benefit from low-cost, fast internet access. Telikom will also leverage Ka-band satellite technology as a secure, reliable fibre backup system in one of its main sites in Lae, PNG’s second-largest city, for the first time. The partners have completed the installation and commissioning of a 4.5 metre satellite dish for the fibre backup service.
PNG is vulnerable to earthquakes which can damage fibre, leaving entire areas without communications. A recent example is the 7.6-magnitude earthquake which struck on 11 September 2022 in the eastern provinces, affecting Lae and its surrounding region. The regional power grid, internet cables, and the regional highway were damaged. Avoiding service outages in the event of fibre damage is a top priority for Telikom.