The PNG picture
p. 51 · Read in the full issue
After flirting for more than a decade with the possibility of introducing television services, Papua New Guinea has now decided to go ahead. Pilot schemes will be established in the two main cities of Port Moresby and Lae while the government prepares for a network of national coverage which has become possible through statellite technology.
Meanwhile an Australian company, Australian Micro wave Systems, has begun selling equipment which will allow private buyers in PNG and some other Pacific countries to receive direct broadcasts of Australian non-commerical television. The signal path will be through a satellite carrying the Australian Broadcasting Commission’s east coast and west coast services with a total programme time approaching 17 hours a day. The service will become available later this year when an existing satellite, INTELSAT 4A, is repositioned over the Pacific.
On these pages PIM writers describe events in the PNG move towards a television service, and outline the satellite facilities which can distribute a domestic television service or bring in services from other countries. And from Hawaii, Paul Addison, who recently attended the fourth annual Pacific Telecommunications Conference, reports on the general telecom revolution which is affecting almost every Island community in the Pacific.