The red leprechaun is coming from all corners and has Gulliver reaching for the ropes. A hook here, a jab there, another left, Awwww…. That was a shocker of a upper cut.
You got knocked the f!@#%k out, B!
Well that would be the call from the commentator if this was a boxing match. And maybe Digicel may not be exactly a leprechaun in stature but, well it’s Irish, right.
Anyway, as you may well be aware, with the advance of Digicel into the mobile phone market a coupla weeks back, Telikom has finally awoken from its slumber and has been stirred into action from years of inactivity by competition.
In their mad scramble to even scores with Digicel, they are resorting to copying the exact same marketing strategies employed by Digicel. Such ideas like giving away a b-mobile sim card inclusive of K10 pre-paid call credits in exchange for a digicel simcard, to name one. The price of a prepaid startup kit (sim card) has also been dropped from K125 to only K25 overnight.
Then we have those Telikom billboards popping up here and there and that fancy ass ad on TV. It’s soooo ridiculously corny (smells like BSP). So I ask: Where were they all these time? And can you believe the fact that Telikom had to go overseas to hire an aussie company to create its ad while Digicel just contracted a PNG-based media company to create its ad - na website tu? Well, believe it! And Telikom/B-Mobile is supposed to be a government owned enterprise.
Talk about patriotism!
The battle between the two has even been taken out onto the street with the general populace. Well, maybe “battle” is not the exact verb to describe it.
Its not like, “Hey, I’m a Ford man” and “Ok, Im a Holden man”. Its more like:
- “Yaah, Im a B-Mobile user and want to go Digicel but I cannot call B-mobile phones and landlines yah…” or
- “I’ll have both a Digicel phone and a B-mobile only for calling local landlines and b-mobile number…” and then theres the lot who go ….
- … ” Screw B-mobile. I’m switching to Digicel!”
Know what I mean???
This is simply because with its record of poor customer service, Telikom already has a negetive image out there that it’s more of a uphill struggle for Telikom. As a result, it’s holding onto anything within sight to remain on its feet. Which brings me to the next point.
The only card its holding onto now is inter-connectivity. An issue Telikom has been deliberately avoiding to discuss with Digicel, according to news and public media. This is what was posted on the Masalai Blog in relation to this subject matter:
“…. A good point raised by Mr. Wade of EMTV during questions was what Digicel felt towards the interconnectivity issue and the prospect of running a parallel mobile network in the country. Digicel stated that interconnection discussions have been attempted to be made with Telikom but Telikom have so far dragged out the issue so long now that no resolution on it has been made. Under ICCC however interconnectivity is a requirement for Telikom and Digicel has the right to request interconnectivity from Telikom. Digicel said that their biggest hurdle since setting up in PNG has been the interconnectivity issue. Because of this position by Telikom, Digicel said their strategy will now be to reach 2 million users within 18 months. They now already have 20,000 customers on board.” Digicel Here to Stay: The Masalai Blog
But at the way things are going, this “card” will have to be surrendered soon unless the government again concocts up some other new bill out of the blue ether to say, Telikom will not allow this (inter-connectivity between networks/mobile carriers) to be implemented.
I say, this is all bulshi!tt really. I caint wait for this issue to be resolved by ICCC so that a B-mobile user can talk to a Digicel phone and vice versa. Then I can finally get to glue a smug grin on me dial the next time I pass by boroko Post Office to see an empty phone booth. Its about time the small people of the land have a fair go and pave way for further investments.
Now I’m keeping my ears open for anything to do with the introduction of broadband at grass rutz prices 
More articles of interest related to this can be found at these links:
The mobile phone war of PNG
Digicel Woos More in PNG
Various articles relating Digicel at The Masalai Blog
That’s it for the day, folks.
And my small kid brother goes “ju-ju-jel”
::.sja.::
Ok, here i was just roaming the endless ethers and nethers of cyberspace and then I stumbled across this image of Martin Johnson. Its 4 years since this ad came out but I just saw it today and was very impressed that I had to shelve my other subjects that I wanted to blog.
Tana Umaga 
Jona Lomu 
Ritchie McCaw
Don’t you love that feeling when you finally get something to work just like how you had pictured it in your mind? Exhilarating, isn’t it….
:::Say Your Piece:::