Belouk is a small village deep in the interior of Papua New Guinea, 50 miles as the crow flies from the nearest road. It is in a part of the country with no electricity, postal service, sewerage or newspapers. In rural parts of Papua New Guinea like Belouk, “most people live almost as they have for tens of thousands of years”, says Dr Amanda Watson, an expert on Papua New Guinea at the Australian National University. Then in 2006 or so, engineers from Digicel, the telecoms giant controlled by the Irish millionaire Denis O’Brien, showed up. They were surveying locations…

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