Special Telecom Section
Monopoly And Innovation
The Region Is Rife With Challengers To Government Telecoms
“We don’t have to care. We’re the phone company.”
It’s an old line from American comedienne Lily Tomlin that still has resonance today, especially in the Pacific Islands where telecommunication services—landline phones, Internet access and wireless telephony—are still largely in the hands of government-run phone companies. National laws that prevent private companies from competing for customers often guarantee these monopolies. Sometimes the government telecoms offer services that are slow and expensive, making their markets ripe for the clever competitor.
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Yet even if national laws allow start-ups, it’s the government that is charged with licensing the bandwidth or airwaves needed by private companies. As in the case of Palau, this can lead to monumental foot-dragging. Yet in some places, as in the Federated States of Micronesia and the Republic of the Marshall Islands, public-private sharing of technology—in this case, fiber optic cable—might lead to innovation and better, faster service for telecom customers.
The stories in this section offer snap-shots of some of the major telecom challenges from around the region.
