To break even in the Solomon Islands market, a new mobile operator must capture 48-63% market share—a threshold that took even DigiCell years to achieve in countries where it was the first challenger. Yet the opportunity persists: submarine fiber (40 Tbps), 161 publicly-funded towers, and Starlink licensing have transformed infrastructure economics, while B-Mobile operates no 4G network whatsoever. This episode examines the brutal financial realities ($40-70M capital, 5-10 years to profitability), regulatory pathways (TCSI licensing, spectrum set-aside strategies), and the radical partnership model (SATSOL's $15-30K data gardens vs. $80-150K traditional sites) that could make a third operator viable where conventional economics say failure. Full research report: https://research.yuda.me/podcast/episodes/solomon-islands-telecom-series/episode-5-launch-execution/report.md
