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telephones over the last two years may have been a world record (Regulator, 2008).
The vast penetration of cell-phones in Vanuatu has created a number of possibilities for
mobile service delivery. A recent report on the last population censes prepared by
VNSO indicates that there are more than 70% of the population have access to cell-
phones (VNSO, 2010). MWTs have brought about new services (or m-Services) in
addition to e-Services, such as m-Democracy, m-Directory, m-Banking, m-Health, m-
Learning and m-Security. These m-Services will be examined further in the study.
Furthermore, Vanuatu is still at an early stage in its implementation of e-Government.
There are a numbers of factors that triggers the initiatives to invest in e-Government
such as maintaining political stability and the progressive political development. The
withdrawal of the monopoly agreement by the Vanuatu government with Telecom
Vanuatu Limited (Telecom Vanuatu Limited, 2009) (the sole provider of
telecommunication services in Vanuatu) has resulted in establishment of a new
telecommunication regulator. This has the advantage of giving other competitors the
opportunity to invest in the telecommunication market in Vanuatu. As a result prices of
mobile phones and Internet services have been greatly reduced and currently the number
of people having access to mobile phones and Internet connections is increasingly
rapidly. According to prior research, m-Government is „inevitable‟(Roggenkamp, 2004).
Therefore, it is very likely that the Vanuatu government will soon be looking into
investing in m-Government technology.
One of the most significant reasons for undertaking this study is the fact that cell-phone
have greatly influenced the way people communicate in Vanuatu and elsewhere. Almost
everyone around you have a cell phone and wherever you look people are busy making
calls and most importantly sending text messages. Apparently cell-phone has now
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