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esulted in the establishment of a new telecommunications regulator known as Vanuatu
Telecom Regulator (VTR) and now telecommunication in Vanuatu is no longer control
by the conditions of monopoly. As part of the separation between operation, policy
making and regulation, the external regulations become necessary. The management of
limited resources, interconnection and universal access/services are some of the main
areas of regulation. In most countries regulating license is one common tool used for
regulation. This is intended to control the number of operators and ensure that rules and
regulations are adhered to.
One main objective of VTR is to ensure there is mobile coverage to difficult to reach
area especially in rural area. In order to achieve this goal, the Universal Access Services
(UAS) was established and managed by VTR to provide difficult to reach area with
mobile coverage. In support of the UAA the Universal Access Policy (UAP) fund was
developed to subsidize the delivery of mobile services to areas that are difficult to reach
in Vanuatu (Regulator, 2008).
At the recent Pacific INET (PacINET1) conference held in Port Vila, the Prime
Minister Edward Natapei pointed out the benefits gained by putting an end to the idea of
monopoly. This results in greater phone coverage and cheaper prices with the next step
being providing more access to the Internet across the country (Independent, 2010). He
stressed the importance of networks communications as highways, ports and airports to
the Pacific regions of development. Consequently, the revolution in the
telecommunication industry in Vanuatu had led to a growth in the GDP at the time
when the world economic was shrinking (Independent, 2010).
As can be seen from the above, the government is very willing to meet and accept the
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