Usage of radiotelephones (walkie-talkie) in Solomon Islands

Hello,

For my "expedition" purposes (I put this word in inverted commas/quotation marks as this may be a bit exaggerated, but who knows?) I was thinking of purchasing/using a number (4-6) of portable radiotelephones with one, perhaps two base units.

However, I am unsure about the following:

1. Are there any regulations in place in Solomon Islands regarding the use of such devices? Any bans or prohibitions, permissions etc?

2. Are there any specific frequency bands that are or could be in use in Solomon Islands for civilian use?

3. Is there any particular transmission mode/protocol that can/cannot be used?

4. To what extent may landform features (mountains) and nature (forest/jungle) prevent or limit the use of such devices?

I know this may be a bit technical question, but I believe in intelligence, expertise and knowledge base of this forum's users. ;-)

2-way radios are still in common use in Solomon Islands villages for communication. However, mobile phones are becoming more common, especially in the more populated areas, eg Malaita, Guadalcanal and Western Privince.
My question for you would be, who would have the other radio? You would need someone using the same system to communicate with. For more detail, contact Solomon Telekom, or the Ministry of Commerce, links on the Visit Solomons or People First websites.
Incidentally, I was unable to buy a local SIM card from Solomon Telekom in December/January - they had run out.
A new mobile provider is starting, but I am not sure when, or what coverage they would have.

walkie-talkies are usually on VHF frequencies, that allows only line of sight connections.
In SI the bulk of communition is still done on HF village radios.
each province has its own frequency, e.g. Temotu is 5.811 Mhz, Western is 5.846 MHz, Malaite is 5.805 Mhz
provincial frequency are free to use for everyone, no license needed.
You can buy radio equipment from Cruz Communications located in Panatina Plaza at Honiara. The owner is an expat: Graham Richardson, running his business for 20 years. email: grumr (at) solomon.com.sb
Graham can answer all technical questions.

Great!!! Thanks a million for this! (sorry, I do not use Thorn Tree so often these days, so I have just found your response).

Regards