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The first Telegraph opened in Christchurch in 1862, connecting underwater with the North Island in 1866, and with Sydney in 1876. The first local Telephone exchange opened also in Christchurch in 1881.
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The three major telecommunication companies in New Zealand in 2026 are Spark formerly known as Telecom NZ until 2014, One NZ formerly Vodafone NZ up to 2023 and Two Degrees owned until 2022 by US company Trilogy International Partners.
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The first Radio Transmission station opened in Port Moresby in 1913, and its first local Telephone exchange in 1923. In 1931 a major AWA Wireless Telegraph at Port Moresby replaced that earlier Transmission station.
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Ever since 2007 PNG's major carrier was Digicel, a company based in Jamaica, with Digicel present in Vanuatu, Tonga, Samoa, and Fiji, with Fiji also having Vodafone as a dominant player.
Takeover
In Australian Financial Review on 14th May 2020, a report was made on a "scoping study" of Digicel's assets by China Mobile with a possible take over bid coming. Digicel was said to be on a "credit ventilator" with $US6.7 billion ($10.3 billion) in debt and major repayment deadlines looming over the next 30 months.
On Monday 25th October 2021 the Australian Govt announced that it was investing $1.8bn in Telstra's takeover of the Pacific arm of Digicel. Telstra said it would contribute $360 million and own 100 per cent of the company's ordinary equity.
On July 15 2022 Telstra's take over was 100% complete.
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