DILI, July 19, 2023 (TATOLI) – The National Communication Authority (NCA, acronym in Portuguese), Timor-Leste’s regulator for telecommunications, radiocommunications, broadcasting (in part), and the Internet, expected the ninth government, led by Xanana Gusmão, who was sworn in recently by the President of the Republic, to be able to invest more in network connectivity.
João Olívio Freitas, the NCA’s president, stated that the problem of internet network connectivity has now become a public complaint, and it is hoped that the new government will provide the best solution.
“The internet network continues to be a public concern. I think the previous government has explained many things; in the new government, the solutions to be taken are related to public investment,” João Olívio Freitas explained to Tatoli at MTK’s office in Caicoli, Dili.
Freitas said the previous government has signed a contract with the Alcatel Submarine Network (ASN) Company for the Timor-Leste South Submarine Cable (TL-SSC) project between Dili, Darwin, and Port Hedland, Australia.
The investment for the project should begin with the agreement option in 2017 to conduct a Front-end Engineering Design (Feed) study, which ended in 2019 and received approval from the government. In 2020, the project was launched, and the procurement process was completed in 2022.
In addition, it is planned that the project implementation process will last 19 months, from July 1, 2022, to January 31, 2024.
The previous public contract agreed with the company was worth $ 38.6 to purchase and conduct an Australian Fiber Optical Digital Transportation Installation in Timor-Leste, a neighboring country of both Australia and Indonesia.
The investment fund for the Fiber Optic project will be 100% funded by the Timor-Leste government.
Furthermore, the government also gets a financing contribution from the Australian government through a Vocus company to conduct a Front-End Engineering Design (Feed) study.
Vocus is the second-best licensed telecommunications operator, as the second largest owner and operator of the optical fiber network in Australia.
The Timor-Leste government believed through this investment, will increase internet speed, reduce internet costs, and especially facilitate the performance of the Timor-Leste government in implementing better e-government.
Meanwhile, ANC is a statutory authority established by the Telecommunications Decree-Law No. 15 of 28 March 2012.
Journalist: José Belarmino De Sá
Editor: Nelia
