The provision of wholesale international telecommunication services in Fiji, previously exclusively licensed to the 51 percent government-owned Fiji International Telecommunications Ltd (FINTEL), is scheduled to open on July 17. It may well be a celebration of sort, for in the scheme of a market where monopolistic holds are being progressively dismantled, stakeholders have labelled this as a monumental move for Fiji. 

Pita Briefs Digicel goes to Nauru Digicel, the fastest growing telecommunications operator in the Pacific, has been awarded a GSM licence in Nauru in its continued expansion of a Pan-Pacific GSM network. This latest acquisition strengthens Digicel's footprint in the region and creates the milestone of Digicel becoming the first mobile operator to offer mobile telecommunication  services in Nauru. Digicel Nauru will offer affordable, innovative and accessible mobile services that meet consumers’ evolving communication needs. Nauru is the sixth market for Digicel in the Pacific, with existing operations in Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, Fiji, Tonga and Samoa, and the 32nd Digicel market worldwide. Fibre optic cable for North Construction is set to begin of a 3200-kilometre submarine fibre optic cable, that is expected to revolutionise communications in the North Pacific. This follows an agreement that involves the US Army and telecommunications companies of the Marshall Islands and Federated States of Micronesia, with cable contracts worth more than US$130 million. Tyco Telecommunications will begin laying the cable in November, working from the Marshall Islands to Guam. US Army Lieutenant General Kevin Campbell, who commands the Army's Space and Missile Defense Command, says the fibre optic cable is the critical enabler to transform the Reagan Test Site at Kwajalein Atoll to meet the changing space and missile defence needs of the US. Interconnect rate high: Tribunal Samoa Telecom Tribunal has ruled that SamoaTel was paying too much to Digicel (Samoa) Ltd in interconnection fees for the past two and a half years. And it has directed the telcom regulator to substantially lower the interconnection fee SamoaTel pays to Digicel. The telecommunications regulator now has the task of working out what the appropriate interconnection rate should be. When that has been done, the difference between that new rate and the existing one will be refunded to SamoaTel. “I'm not going to speculate what it is,” said  SamoaTel CEO Mike Johnstone. “But we are talking about a substantial amount of money.” When a call is made from a landline or fixed telephone to a mobile telephone there is a fee paid to the mobile operator. That fee is called the interconnection fee. When a call is made from a mobile telephone to a landline telephone, the mobile operator pays the landline operator. In Samoa landlines are operated only by SamoaTel. SamoaTel also has a mobile telephone operation called GoMobile.

Kukicel for Cooks?

Pita Briefs Kukicel for Cooks? The mobile network monopoly in the Cook Islands could be broken after a proposal is made to the government by Kukicel to allow it to enter the market. The island nation currently has just the one operator, Telecom Cook Islands, which is owned by Telecom New Zealand  (60%) and the Cook Islands government (40%). KukiCel is a division of Mervin Communications, which broadcasts the Matariki FM radio station. Last year, Telecom Cook Islands carried out an upgrade of its network to install a soft-switch. The network upgrade—carried out by ADC—includes an overall expansion of the network’s capacity from 8000 to 15,000 subscribers along with new services such as prepaid calling, SMS, voicemail and GPRS data. Telikom PNG goes with Gilat Gilat Satellite Networks Ltd (Nasdaq:GILT) has been selected by Telikom PNG Ltd. to provide a broadband satellite communications network covering hundreds of sites. Telikom PNG is the government-owned telecommunications operator serving Papua New Guinea, a country with a population of more than six million. Telikom PNG has chosen Gilat’s SkyEdge and SkyEdge II platforms for the project. Gilat’s SkyEdge platform will be used to deliver broadband Internet services to remote areas and to provide toll-quality telephony to rural citizens. As part of this deployment, a number of existing Gilat Dial@way sites will be upgraded to the SkyEdge platform. Exclusive licence discussion Negotiations between Our Telekom and the Solomon Islands government are close to being signed by the two parties, according to Radio New Zealand International. The negotiations which began last year are to finally cancel the 50-year exclusive licence held by Solomon Telekom. The Solomon Islands Government is wanting to cancel the exclusive license to open up the market for other companies like Digicel. Digicel goes green Digicel has announced a number of projects that it says reinforced its commitment towards environmental preservation. The company said it was about to introduce degradable retail bags in stores across its 31 markets worldwide, including Fiji. "We are very encouraged by the success of our environmentally friendly and alternative energy programmes and are committed to rolling these out in more of our markets with partners to explore further initiatives," said Colm Delves, Digicel Group CEO.

The mobile network monopoly in the Cook Islands could be broken after a proposal is made to the government by Kukicel to allow it to enter the market. The island nation currently has just the one operator, Telecom Cook Islands, which is owned by Telecom New Zealand  (60%) and the Cook Islands government (40%). KukiCel is a division of Mervin Communications, which broadcasts the Matariki FM radio station. Last year, Telecom Cook Islands carried out an upgrade of its network to install a soft-switch. The network upgrade—carried out by ADC—includes an overall expansion of the network’s capacity from 8000 to 15,000 subscribers along with new services such as prepaid calling, SMS, voicemail and GPRS data.

Telikom PNG goes with Gilat
Gilat Satellite Networks Ltd (Nasdaq:GILT) has been selected by Telikom PNG Ltd. to provide a broadband satellite communications network covering hundreds of sites. Telikom PNG is the government-owned telecommunications operator serving Papua New Guinea, a country with a population of more than six million.
Telikom PNG has chosen Gilat’s SkyEdge and SkyEdge II platforms for the project. Gilat’s SkyEdge platform will be used to deliver broadband Internet services to remote areas and to provide toll-quality telephony to rural citizens. As part of this deployment, a number of existing Gilat Dial@way sites will be upgraded to the SkyEdge platform.

Exclusive licence discussion
Negotiations between Our Telekom and the Solomon Islands government are close to being signed by the two parties, according to Radio New Zealand International.
The negotiations which began last year are to finally cancel the 50-year exclusive licence held by Solomon Telekom.
The Solomon Islands Government is wanting to cancel the exclusive license to open up the market for other companies like Digicel.

Digicel goes green
Digicel has announced a number of projects that it says reinforced its commitment towards environmental preservation. The company said it was about to introduce degradable retail bags in stores across its 31 markets worldwide, including Fiji. "We are very encouraged by the success of our environmentally friendly and alternative energy programmes and are committed to rolling these out in more of our markets with partners to explore further initiatives," said Colm Delves, Digicel Group CEO.



The prolific Fiji ICT blogger on http://coconutwireless.wordpress.com, while providing a critique on this development, said it was long overdue. 
“We have already seen what competition in mobile means, and on that day (July 17), we will be given the roadmap of how Internet will advance in Fiji,” he wrote.
Unwired Fiji, who bravely entered the local telecom market in 2005 as Fiji’s first independently owned ISP (Internet Service Provider), welcomes it and thinks it should “see a wide range of new opportunities open up”.
“We welcome the move and see it as one that will have a major impact. As the first independent ISP and communications provider, we have had to compete in a distorted market environment. Unwired has prepared (for the opening of international access) by recently launching our new 4G WiMAX network,” executive director William Parkinson told ISLANDS BUSINESS.  
For an independent ISP born at a time when the domestic market was still the exclusive domain of Telecom Fiji Ltd (TFL), Unwired Fiji literally had a baptism of fire when it was obliged to buy bandwidth from TFL, who in turn, was buying from FINTEL. 
Unwired Fiji could have easily bought at a cheaper price directly from FINTEL but Fiji’s licensing regime at the time would not allow it to do so. Not until the signing in January last year of the landmark Deed of Settlement between exclusively licensed operators and government, to gradually dissolve their exclusive positions in respective markets in return for open licenses, was Unwired Fiji able to enjoy wholesale bandwidth prices from FINTEL.
Yet another newcomer Digicel—the maverick GSM network operator who fancies itself as a ‘monopoly breaker’—could not be any happier. 
“Digicel welcomes the full liberalisation of the international gateway in Fiji as it is the final step towards the full liberalisation of the telecommunications sector in Fiji,” said Gillian Power, Public Relations Executive at Digicel Pacific. 
“The liberalisation of the international gateway will enable Digicel to choose from several commercial opportunities in respect of its international services. Allowing operators to choose their international services strategy ultimately benefits consumers. Digicel’s promise of offering the best service and offerings can now only get even better.”
In the downstream market, global call center operation MindPearl, when recently announcing the establishment in Fiji of yet another contact center, said the liberalisation was a major factor in its decision.
This, after prospecting for an ideal location in 15 countries in the African, Caribbean and Pacific regions.
It goes without saying therefore that July 17 is a significant date for all these companies operating at different levels in Fiji’s ICT industry.
It signals the easing of FINTEL’s stronghold on what is known in the industry as the backhaul market, an important exchange point which contributes significantly to how they price their services in the retail market. 
The sigh of relief in Fiji’s ICT sector is indeed unmistakable.
As Sharon Smith Johns, CEO of TFL’s ISP subsidiary Connect, once put it: “The main thing now is that we have a choice, even if, when we find a cheaper source, the quality may not be so good, we have a choice.” 
In essence, from July 17, companies like Connect or Unwired Fiji or Digicel are under no obligation to buy international bandwidth from FINTEL, as was previously the case. 
If they can find a source cheaper than FINTEL they are free to go directly to that source.
FINTEL maintains
dominant position
But while this major change in market dynamics immediately boosts their list of options for international connectivity, there is also a realisation that the liberalisation may not be such a cause for celebration.
It may even require further intervention by government in order to achieve the desired effect, a view held by the http://coconutwireless.wordpress.com blogger. 
“To what extent will sharing be a part of the international gateway liberalisation agenda remains to be seen.
“Calling for liberalisation but leaving FINTEL in a position to exert control via its market dominance is only a half-step. This is where more ‘intrusive’ measures like functional separation will come into the picture,” he told ISLANDS BUSINESS.
Unwired Fiji’s Parkinson cites a similar opinion: “Deregulation does not necessarily lead to a competitive market and regulators need to be careful that the market is not now dominated by cashed- up incumbents who can use market power, developed while enjoying the benefits of market protection, to squeeze smaller operators out of business via short- term loss leading strategies.”
Significantly, while the liberalisation would mean that any local service provider may source bandwidth from anywhere—which they get either via satellite or submarine cable—it does not completely eliminate FINTEL’s dominant position in relation to the much coveted 860Gbps (Gigabits per second) capacity Southern Cross Cable Network (SCCN). 
Domestic providers may indeed have a choice but if they choose to buy bandwidth from an international provider that brings it to them via cable, usually the preferred option if cable is available, then the only option in Fiji at the moment is via SCCN. 
In this instance, FINTEL is seen to still maintain a dominant position through a commercial arrangement it had signed with the owners of SCCN. 
“There is a Landing Party Agreement (LPA) that FINTEL had with the Southern Cross Cable Network Limited (consortium owners of SCCN) in 2000 where SCCN nominated FINTEL as its Landing Party Partner for as long as that landing (the SCCN landing in Vatuwaqa, Suva) exists,” FINTEL CEO Sakaraia Tuilakepa told ISLANDS BUSINESS. 
“So if they choose to go through the Southern Cross, they will have to come through FINTEL.”
At this point in time, no operator has made any indication on where it would buy from when the international gateway opens this month, but there is strong emphasis on preference to still go via the Southern Cross Cable.
“We have looked at options but the cable represents a unique resource and we hope that a solution is found that delivers cost efficient access to all while recognising those who originally invested get a fair return,” Parkinson said.
FINTEL’s biggest customer, TFL, also indicated it may remain with FINTEL, although it was not ruling out exploring what the satellite market had to offer, considering it was already technologically equipped  for international telecommunication via its VSAT earth station in Yaqara, Western Viti Levu. 
“There’s a side agreement between FINTEL and TFL, where TFL is committed to going through the cable for another six months, until January next year.
“That’s not a long way away, so when that expires, TFL will review its options of whether to go through FINTEL or on its own,” said Tomasi Vakatora, CEO of TFL’s parent company Amalgamated Telecom Holdings.
“There is a possibility of doing international through our VSAT but it’s always the case that satellite is currently a bit more expensive than the sub-marine cable. In terms of quality, well submarine cable still has the best quality,” Vakatora added.
ATH itself had announced plans in May to set up a F$2.5 million call centre which Vakatora said would be facilitated via the Southern Cross Cable. 
The two GSM operators in Fiji were less generous on where they may be headed, with Digicel only saying the opening of the gateway provided it with more options, while Vodafone Fiji’s chief executive officer Aslam Khan said the company was “exploring options”. Both are also technologically equipped to do international communication on their own. 
The argument of ‘functional separation’
But with FINTEL’s dominant position still an issue to be tackled, there is a belief the role of the regulator and the idea of ‘functional separation’ are increasingly becoming more relevant and important subjects to delve into. 
The http://coconutwireless.com blogger has been an advocate of these ideas, with many posts devoted to their discussions, in particular the ongoing case regarding Telstra in Australia. 
A shift in the Australian government’s position to foster effective competition has seen it announce new policy and regulatory measures accompanying its A$43 billion plan to build a next-generation national fibre optic network. 
The relevance to Fiji’s FINTEL situation is the pursuance of ‘functional separation,’ a new tool for regulators that Fiji and Pacific regulators are encouraged to explore.
‘Functional Separation’ has been described as “a measure by which those parts of an incumbent’s business that are critical to providing for an open market, are placed in an organisational unit which is separate from the other commercial activities of that business,” according to the European Competitive Telecommunications Association (ECTA) in 2006. 
This fairly new idea is said to have been successfully tested in Europe and the push by ECTA now is for all regulators in Europe to have the power to make functional separation a reality. 
An article in www.commsbusiness.co.uk describes ECTA’s calls for functional separation as driven by its belief that it is “an important additional measure in securing robust and effective implementation of the existing framework and its associated proven benefits to the economy and to consumers.”
If such a concept is pursued in Fiji, it would see the separation of FINTEL’s value added business interests from the essential backhaul service that it also provides, bringing about more transparency in the costs of international connectivity via the Southern Cross Cable.
“The goal is real competition in backhaul services and this can be done only by wrestling control of the Southern Cross Cable away from FINTEL.
At least until the entry of another cable or the launch of O3b’s satellite service,” the coconutwireless bloggersaid.