Communication in Papua New Guinea

Introduction

How is the communication system in Papua New Guinea? Here, Broadcast media include 5 TV stations: 1 commercial station (TV Wan), 2 state-run stations, (National Broadcasting Corporation and EMTV - formerly a commercial TV station previously owned by Fiji Television Limited but PNG’s Telikom purchased it in Jan 2016, hence being state-run); 1 digital free-to-view network launched in 2014, and 1 satellite network Click TV (PNGTV) launched in 2015; the state-run NBC operates 3 radio networks with multiple repeaters and about 20 provincial stations; several commercial radio stations with multiple transmission points as well as several community stations; transmissions of several international broadcasters are accessible (2023). What about Telecommuication systems and Internet? Explore this article to find out more.

More about communication in Papua New Guinea

Broadband - fixed subscriptions
Internet country code	.pg
Total	21,000 (2020 est.)
Subscriptions per 100 inhabitants	0.2 (2020 est.)
Internet users
Total	3.168 million (2021 est.)
Percent of population	32% (2021 est.)
Telecommunication systems
General assessment	Fixed-line teledensity in Papua New Guinea has seen little change over the past two decades; progress in the country’s telecom sector has come primarily from mobile networks, where accessibility has expanded considerably in recent years, with population coverage increasing from less than 3% in 2006 to more than 90% by early 2021; the MNOs operate networks offering services based on GSM, 3G, and 4G, depending on location; GSM is prevalent in many rural and remote areas, while 3G and 4G are centered more on urban areas; MNOs’ investments in 4G are growing, though GSM still represents the bulk of all mobile connections owing to the low penetration of smartphones and the concentration of high-speed data networks predominantly in high value urban areas; a lack of sufficient competition and investment in the wire line segment has driven up prices and hampered network coverage and quality; infrastructure deployment costs are high, partly due to the relatively low subscriber base, the difficult terrain, and the high proportion of the population living in rural areas; fixed telecom infrastructure is almost non-existent outside urban centers, leaving most of the population under served; PNG is the Pacific region’s largest poorly developed telecom market, with only around 22% of its people connected to the internet; this falls far behind the recommended targets set in the country’s draft National Broadband Policy, which aimed to provide universal mobile broadband access; low international capacity has meant that internet services are slow and unreliable; two subsea cables connect PNG to Australia (landing at Sydney) and the United States (Guam); despite the improvement in recent years, the country is still impacted by a connectivity infrastructure deficit, making it reliant on more expensive alternatives such as satellites, also weighing on the affordability of services for end-users; the government granted a license to Starlink at the beginning of 2024, which should improve digital access in rural areas (2023)
Domestic	Fixed-line nearly 2 per 100 and mobile-cellular is 48 per 100 persons (2021)
International	Country code - 675; landing points for the Kumul Domestic Submarine Cable System, PNG-LNG, APNG-2, CSCS the PPC-1 submarine cables to Australia, Guam, PNG and Solomon Islands; and CS² to PNG, Solomon Islands, and Australia; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Pacific Ocean) (2023)
Telephones - fixed lines
Total subscriptions	166,000 (2021 est.)
Subscriptions per 100 inhabitants	2 (2021 est.)
Telephones - mobile cellular
Total subscriptions	4.818 million (2021 est.)
Subscriptions per 100 inhabitants	48 (2021 est.)

All Important Facts about Papua New Guinea

Want to know more about Papua New Guinea? Check all different factbooks for Papua New Guinea below.

Papua New Guinea is found in Melanesia