They say talk is cheap. Not on the telephone in Honiara or in the Solomon Islands for that matter.
Telephone charges are very expensive in many islands countries. In Solomon Islands, it is fair to say they are amongst the most expensive in the world. From fixed lines to mobile telephones to the internet, charges are exorbitant by any standard.
Take the cost of a rechargeable sim card, for example. In some countries, including Australia, it costs AU$$30, [about SB$158 in the local currency] to recharge or refill.
Carriers like Optus in Australia, for example, offer the card with the same amount of credit. Others don't. While the sim card costs the same, customers have to pay extra to refill or recharge in order to make a call.
By comparison, the same sim card costs SB$400 [AU$76]. It comes with SB$100 [AU$19] worth of free calls [credits]. Prices differ on purchases with a handset.
Price starts at SB$500 [AU$95] for the most basic and largely outdated models and could go as high as SB$5000 [AU$952] or more.
On land line charges, Our Telekom's tariff is 70 cents for a local call within Honiara if the call is being made from a public telephone or at home. But because there is no regulatory body on pricing, hotels in particular have taken advantage of this anomaly.
Calls within Honiara from a hotel room, for example, could be as high as SB$5. The cost of international calls is a different matter again. Countries fall under different bands. An international call from the Pacific International Casino hotel to Australia, for example, is charged at SB$24 a minute.
Whether Solomon Islands customers are getting value for their money is another matter.
One can only gauge public sentiments about the services Our Telekom provides.
Source of frustation: One dissatisfied customer, for example, after trying unsuccessfully to make a call, said in exasperation that Our Telekom's breeze card is no longer breeze, but "a source of frustration".
Breeze is the brand card for mobile phone refills.
Solomon Islands' Our Telekom is fraught with problems, largely to do with keeping up with the new technology.
Its mobile service network is over-subscribed resulting in constant call drop offs, reliability and connectivity in terms of signal strength.
The mobile-to-mobile connection is so bad in Honiara, a coastal city of less than one hundred thousand people that in some places there are no signals at all. White River, a western suburb of Honiara, is a case in point.
But the problem of reception is not entirely confined to White River. Even in hotel rooms or along the main Prince Philip Highway one would be lucky to stay connected on a call if at all.
In every call, the signal strength just goes on and off, a problem Chief Executive Loyley Ngira attributes to the topography in Honiara.
Topography or not, the problem is nevertheless one which has become a source of frustration for mobile clients.
The frustration is not limited to calls dropping off. Trying to make a connection is just as difficult.
For example, one has to make several attempts in order to get through the first time, and because of calls dropping off, several more attempts thereafter to reconnect.
Adding salt to the wound is a recorded message that comes on when a connection cannot be established.
This is even more frustrating when you know you were just talking to the other party a few seconds earlier.
"Subscribers cannot be connected at this time. Please call again later." On landlines, the message is similar.
"The number you called is not in service." And yetet, seconds earlier you were just talking to the other party.
Chief Executive Ngira, told ISLANDS BUSINESS in an exclusive interview that Our Telekom is aware of these problems and is working hard to fix them.
At the same time, he admits the mobile network is getting "very big" and indeed lucrative and Our Telekom engineers are scrambling to meet the demand for improved network connection and service.
In support of this, Our Telekom is ploughing tens of millions of dollars into its mobile GSM network.
It has, for example, installed towers after towers in suburban locations around Honiara in a bid to improve signal strength and connectivity.
So far at least nine have been installed and are operational-each at the cost of about SB$2 million [about AU$380, 800]. More are planned, particularly in areas including West Honiara where signals are weak.
Despite these efforts, the problem of calls dropping off remains largely unsolved.
"Why is it," I asked Ngira and his Manager Sales, Marketing and Operations, Christina Lasaqa.
He blamed private radio operators in Honiara.
"As you know, there many private radio operators in Honiara and it is possible their signals are interfering with ours," he said.
"But definitely there is interference which we have not figured out just as yet. This is causing calls dropping off our mobile network," Ngira said.
Because the mobile telephone industry is a growing and lucrative business, Our Telekom has embarked on an ambitious rural expansion programme, committing some SB$100 million [about AU$19 million] to its effort.
Remote communities as far south of the country as Tigoa on Rennell Island now have access to the mobile network. Similarly, Afio, on south Malaita has also been successfully converted and is on the network just as many other locations such as Noro, Munda and Seghe in Western Province.
According to Ngira, more outlying areas are on Our Telekom's work programme for conversion. Atoifi in East Malaita is among the candidates. It is currently on the fixed line network.
With an estimated 30,000 customers on its mobile network nationwide, Our Telekom is eyeing 80,000 to 100,000 customers to be on its books by 2012-three years from now.
Our Telekom is big business in Solomon Islands. Its turnover in 2007 for example, was SB$150,655,194-up from SB$127,224,657 the year before. In that year, its after-tax profit was SB$79,292,801-an increase of SB$2.85 million over the previous year's results.
In line with its rural expansion programme, Our Telekom has contracted a Solomon Islander to source monopole towers from Taiwan. These are being delivered this year and will be used in the rural areas.
Monopole, a single mast steel structure, was selected over others for a number of reasons including its environmentally-friendly appearance and its ability to withstand inclement weather conditions in any environment.
Positive sign: "Our customer projection is based on the positive sign of upward growth we've witnessed in the last few years," Ngira said.
"We want to stay the course of our motto, which is enabling communities talking to each other".
But talking to each other is one thing. Maintaining the support to enable sustained growth, particularly in the rural area, is quite another. In this stance, absence of clear government policy on investment in rural industries could very well render Our Telekom's effort unsustainable in the long-term.
Is Our Telekom ahead of its time? No one seems to know. Its rush to take onboard the rural populace on to its mobile network seems to suggest the rush is to do with its 15-year telecom monopoly under an agreement with the Government. That agreement lapses in 2019.

UPNG OPENS CAMPUS IN HONIARA The University of Papua New Guinea has opened a new Open Campus in Honiara in the Solomon Islands. This new addition is the first outside of PNG. Already it has a number of Open Campuses in Bougainville's Buka Island, Kokopo in East New Britain, Madang, Mt Hagen and the nation's capital. The university also has 10 other provincial university centres. UPNG's Vice-Chancellor Professor Ross Hynes announced this as part of his welcome address to new students at the start of the Orientation Week early last month "Franchise study centres have also been established in an increasing number of locations. We now have a presence in every province and will be fully operational in all provinces in the near future," he said. The university's flexible mode teaching represents a "major element" of its programme as it now offers a Certificate in Tertiary and Community Studies (CTCS), enrichment, diploma and degree opportunities by distance education. "These Open campuses and Provincial Centres provide wonderful opportunities for those not able to attend UPNG in Port Moresby," said Professor Hynes. Over 7000 students are enrolled in the Open College. "In this way we are truly bringing education to the people." For full-time students both major campuses have significant residential complexes, which provide 2633 beds and have an overall teaching capacity for in excess of 3,600 students. As the largest and most comprehensive university in PNG, it offers courses ranging from Medicine and Health Sciences, through Natural and Physical Sciences, to Law, Business, the Humanities and Arts. It is an institution committed to excellence in teaching and increasingly to research and development. "Our mission is clearly defined: To be the premier university, making available quality education, research and service to Papua New Guinea and the Pacific," said Professor Hynes. He said the mission is supported by a comprehensive Strategic Plan, upon which each of the schools base its strategic operational plan. "Increasingly we are judging our performance in the context of achievable but challenging benchmarks, thinking more globally, establishing international relationships, and making UPNG an exciting academic place to be," Professor Hynes said.  -By Baeau Tai

In recent years, government has come under increasing pressure to end Our Telekom's monopoly and to open up the telco industry to competition.
Government has relented. In doing so, it has attracted a number of inquiries including a serious bid from the Caribbean-based US$2 billion telephone giant, Digicel.
The agreement has stood in the way of Digicel's every move in Solomon Islands.
And government is worried that by ending the agreement prematurely, it could be up for a huge compensation payout.
To avoid this, a team comprising all stakeholders has been established to negotiate some kind of a settlement.
Led by Deputy Prime Minister, Fred Fono, the team is due to meet in Brisbane this month.
Our Telekom is jointly owned by the Solomon Islands National Provident Fund [SINPF], United Kingdom's Cable and Wireless and Government.
Because of the push for cheaper rates, hence competition in the telecom industry, Our Telekom is reviewing its rates for international calls, local, data download, internet and mobile.
At the same time, Our Telekom is buying an additional 10 megabit in bandwidth to ensure speedy connectivity in its international circuit.
This, according to Ngira, will increase its capacity to handle the growing international clientele. Our Telekom, he said, is also focusing on improving the technology to ensure reliability. More and more staff will undertake training to enhance these measures.
If you think tariffs will come down soon, think again. As far as Ngira and his team are concerned, Our Telekom is still in its built-up phase-and needs money to improve its services.
Until then, talk may be cheap in other countries, but in Solomon Islands talking on the telephone will continue to be an expensive business for the country's 30,000 mobile clients and the 7000 landline users.