Telstra buyout of Digicel’s Pacific mobile networks threatened by ‘discriminatory’ new PNG tax

The $100m tax on companies controlling more than 40% of market is arbitrary' and perplexing', says telco Digicel

Digicel Group says it is considering legal options after Papua New Guinea imposed a $100m tax that the telecoms firm said had potential implications" for the planned AU$2.1bn ($1.57bn) sale of the Pacific's biggest mobile network to Australia's Telstra.

Telstra Corp Ltd said last October that it would buy the Pacific operations of Digicel in a deal largely funded by the Australian government, seen by observers as a way to block China's rising influence in the region. The operations include 2.5m mobile phone subscribers across PNG, Fiji, Vanuatu, Tonga, Samoa and Nauru.