Zimbabwe: Regulator Grants Free Temporary Spectrum To Telcos To Boost Data Capacity – Reports

May 11th 2020

Potraz, Zimbabwe

The Postal and Telecommunication Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (POTRAZ) has reportedly allocated the nation’s three mobile network operators free spectrum until the end of the year as part of its measures to ensure affordable data to the consumers in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, according to The Sunday News.

The Director-General of POTRAZ, Gift Machengete said that the authority had granted NetOne, Telecel and Econet free spectrum so that they could increase their capacities when offering data to consumers.

The regulator has granted the spectrum to the mobile operators up until December 2020. This, however, comes at a time when the country’s mobile operators had just hiked up charges for most of their services, including data. For example, Econet Wireless recently raised its data prices by 225 percent.

Machengete said that Econet was still within the legal threshold of USD 0.30 per MB set by POTRAZ as the company had apparently been charging discounted bundles all along.

POTRAZ also awarded a free licence to the Zimbabwe Research and Education Network (ZIMREN), which is an association of tertiary institutions, to enable the group sourcing of internet connectivity and distribution.
The move is expected to lower the cost of internet for Zimbabwe’s tertiary institutions.

Source Broadcast Media Africa

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