I’ll explain the Starlink and NICTA situation if you don’t understand, because names keep getting thrown around and people are expected to magically know who is who. So let’s slow it down with the facts .
Starlink a company owned by Space X wants to operate in Papua New Guinea as one of the telecommunication companies, just like Digicel, Telikom, or Vodafone. They want to register locally, follow the law, sell internet to businesses and citizens, and work with the existing system. The difference is, Starlink does not need DataCo’s cables or towers. It uses satellites, which means it can provide fast, reliable, cheap internet anywhere in the country even in remote provinces where current telecoms fail.
PNG DataCo is our government-owned company. It does not sell internet to the public. Its job is to own and manage the big national infrastructure like the undersea cables, the long fiber cables across the country, the backbone network. Telecom companies must use DataCo’s network to connect to the outside world. This is where DataCo makes its money.
Telecommunication companies like Digicel, Telikom, Vodafone, and Enterprise Telecom are the ones selling internet and mobile services to you and me . They own the towers and SIM cards, but they depend on DataCo’s cables. They charge the public very high prices, give poor service, and blame “technical issues” like it’s normal. They make money. DataCo makes money. The public suffers.
Initially NICTA wanted to bring Starlink into PNG and issue the licence so citizens and businesses could get fast, affordable internet. But the Ombudsman Commission (OC) stepped in and blocked NICTA from granting the licence, claiming the process wasn’t fully legal or safe for national interests, public data, and citizens. Because of the OC’s directive, NICTA cannot proceed until the National Court decides whether the OC’s block is valid. That’s why there is a court case between NICTA and the OC, and why Starlink cannot operate even though it’s ready to provide services.
Now here is where everything breaks.
The government borrowed over K1 billion to build DataCo’s cable network. That money must be paid back. DataCo needs big customers using its cables or the whole thing collapses financially. That means mines, banks, businesses, and government offices and the general public weather you digice or Vodafone it dosent matter whats matter is they must stay on DataCo-connected networks.
Starlink bypasses all of that. It does not use DataCo. It does not pay DataCo. It does not need towers or cables. When a mine or business switches to Starlink, DataCo loses revenue instantly. That threatens the government’s ability to pay back its loans.
So Starlink becomes a problem. Not because it is bad. Not because it is unsafe. But because it exposes how expensive and inefficient the current system is.
The government panics. If Starlink is allowed freely, DataCo and Telikom could collapse before the debt is paid. That would leave the government with massive loans and no income. So instead of fixing prices and improving service, they choose protection.
Ombudsman Commission steps in and blocks Starlink using licensing and legal language. On December 11, 2025, NICTA ordered Starlink to stop operating in PNG. After that, Starlink shut down services. NICTA then warned that people using Starlink dishes are “illegal operators” under an old 2009 law written before satellite internet like this even existed.
So now citizens trying to get affordable, reliable internet are treated like criminals, while expensive telecom companies continue giving poor service without consequences.
This is the cold hard truth. The government is not protecting citizens. It is protecting debt, revenue, and control. Telecom companies are protected. DataCo is protected. The people are not.
That is why Starlink is blocked.Starlink has officially suspended its operations in Papua New Guinea as of late December 2025
