BUILDING telecommunications infrastructure in the Pacific remains an expensive challenge, requiring greater regional collaboration and risk protection to ensure viable services, says Amalgamated Telecom Holdings chief executive officer Ivan Fong.
Addressing the Pacific Fiber Conference at the Sheraton Fiji Golf Resort and Spa in Nadi last week, Mr Fong noted the persistent difficulty of making large-scale investments work in small, low-demand markets.
“Building infrastructure, especially in the Pacific, is an expensive business,” Mr Fong said.
“We don’t always have the demand and customer numbers to make it work on a standalone basis, and for that very reason we need to find how we can collaborate.”
Mr Fong said solutions could range from wholesale agreements and infrastructure sharing to direct partnerships with governments and regulatory authorities to drive market adoption and generate necessary traffic volumes.
He said private investors required downside risk protection without public subsidies crowding out commercial capital.
“We don’t want to have services and capabilities denied just because we can’t close the loop on the investment equation,” he said.
Beyond infrastructure economics, he pointed to the rapid evolution of artificial intelligence as both a promising asset and a growing security concern for regional networks.
