(Telecompaper) Papua New Guinea-based telecommunications firm Telikom has selected Huawei to roll out a national broadband network. The national broadband project is supported by shareholder IPBC and the government. The new network will deliver ADSL2+ broadband to over 80,000 premises in Papua New Guinea, with a further 8,000 locations to be connected to GPON technology at speeds of up to 100 Mbps. The project will also see the creation of a new high-speed broadband backbone a long-haul microwave transmission network which will offer open access to both fixed-line and mobile broadband operators. Telikom also said it will use the backbone to deliver LTE mobile broadband services in major urban centres. Furthermore, Huawei announced it will launch an ICT student sponsorship programme to train students on broadband technology so they can deploy and maintain the national broadband network in future years.