Impact of Mobile Phone Usage in Papua New Guinea

Abstract

Until the second half of 2007, information and communication technology (ICT) services in Papua New Guinea (PNG) were limited to urban centres under the monopoly operator, Telikom PNG (Mitchel 2008). Thereafter, Digicel entered the mobile market and expanded mobile signal coverage across the country enabling connectivity to many people — the mobile phone penetration rate now stands at approximately 41 per cent (ITU 2014), marking a substantial change in the communications landscape. This In Brief provides an overview of a survey of mobile phone users in PNG. The survey was administered to 727 respondents across seven provinces and focused on three main themes. It sought to investigate aspects of mobile phone use in healthcare and school systems and income-earning activities in PNG.