The Independent Consumer & Competition Commission (ICCC) of Papua New Guinea has recommended approving the acquisition of Digicel PNG and its subsidiaries by Australian operator Telstra.
The ICCC’s commissioner and CEO Paulus Ain said that it had released a draft determination regarding Telstra’s application which took into account information supplied by the group as well as “comments received from both industry participants and other relevant stakeholders, including available market information.”
TeleGeography reported that while the ICCC also plans to hold a “pre-decision conference”, the commission has concluded that “the proposed acquisition will not have, or will not be likely to have, the effect of substantially lessening competition in any telecommunication services market”, with Ain confirming that “the ICCC therefore proposes to give clearance to Telstra to proceed with the proposed acquisition.”
The ICCC has now called for feedback on its draft determination, giving stakeholders until 25th January to submit their comments. The authority noted that it will invited “certain stakeholders” to its pre-decision conference.
