FINTEL eyes channel partners

April 14, 2009 12:12:07 PM

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With just two months to go before the deregulation of Fiji’s international telecommunication services, the Fiji International Telecommunications Limited (FINTEL) believes it is well placed to be a major provider of international Internet bandwidth for Fiji. 

And it is eyeing what it calls are potential “channel partners” in existing players, whether it be mobile telephone companies, Internet Service Providers or any entity with substantial bandwidth needs. 

“The ultimate goal for the government is to make sure that we have a society that is well informed, knowledgeable and has access to information. How do you do that? Well you need internet penetration not just in urban areas but right out to the rural.  And our key strength, looking at the domestic market, is that we can work together with other key drivers to push bandwidth out there,” FINTEL chief executive officer Sakaraia Tuilakepa told FijiLive. 

The opening up of international communication access, a service previously exclusively licensed to FINTEL, is the second phase of deregulation in Fiji’s telecommunication industry. 

It follows on from the signing in November last year of the Radisson Accord, an MOU between the Fiji government and incumbent telecommunication providers setting the timeframe for an open market.  The MOU was officially endorsed by the parties in January last year.  

This saw the opening up of the mobile telephone market last October, followed by the immediate launch of maverick Irish-owned cell phone service provider Digicel in the country. 

The deregulation of international access, scheduled for July 17 this year, is phase two of the process. It will mean that any domestic reseller of telecommunication services may directly source its international bandwidth needs without going through FINTEL, as was previously the case. 

With this scenario, FINTEL, which still has exclusive access to the Southern Cross Cable Network (SCCN) in a separate agreement with cable owner Southern Cross Cable Ltd, will have to start marketing its SCCN cable investment to local telecom providers.

Tuilakepa said if players in the domestic market worked collaboratively with FINTEL as the main reseller of international bandwidth through the SCCN cable, Fiji would effectively achieve the aims of pushing internet out to all parts of Fiji.