After years of disagreement, the Zambian government has finally awarded private mobile-phone operators licenses to operate international gateways in a bid to bring down the high cost of communications.
Two service providers have been given licenses to access the international gateway facility that was previously exclusive to the government-run Zambia Telecommunication Co. (Zamtel), which is now being sold in order to bring it back to life financially.
A gateway fee had been paid to Zamtel — in addition to fees for using Zamtel’s satellite system — by private service providers through the Zambian government. This resulted in unfair competition, with private service providers charging their customers exorbitantly in a bid to make profit and to sustain their operations.
Zambia Information and Communication Technology Authority (ZICTA) acting director General Richard Mwanza said in Lusaka last week that the move to award licenses to Zain and MTN would enable the two mobile service providers to lower their high international tariffs. Mwanza made the remarks at a meeting of CEOs at the Zambia Association of Chambers of Commerce and Industry.
The two service providers and various stakeholders, including the World Bank, had for years been expressing concern at the high cost of doing business in the telecom sector in Zambia, emanating from high license fees of about US$12 million that were required to access the international gateway.
But despite approving the licenses, the Zambian government will not say how much the new gateway licenses will cost until a new regulatory framework that will provide guidelines on the use of the gateway is put into place. Zambia’s international gateway fee was the highest in the Eastern and Southern African region and was cited as a barrier to entry in the telecom sector. International gateway fees are pegged at US$214,000 in Kenya and $50,000 in Uganda.
The granting of international gateway licenses to the service providers is, among other things, the culmination of comprehensive consultations that have been carried out by the Zambian government in order to address concerns that service providers were raising.
“The granting of international gateway licenses to the two service providers will result in the competition in international services, which was in the past a monopoly for Zamtel,” Mwanza said.
The international gateway for Zambia had remained closed since liberalization policies were introduced for other areas of the telecom sector 20 years ago. Private operators had wanted to buy their own international gateways but the Zambian government refused, citing security reasons.
“The biggest problem now is the high interconnectivity charges between networks of mobile operators. In other countries in the region, interconnectivity charges are lower,” Khan said.
Other Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) countries are pushing Zambia and other countries where the price of international calls is high to reduce costs by cutting or scrapping termination and roaming charges in a bid to increase traffic flow.
Speaking at a SADC telecommunication operators’ bilateral meeting last month, Botswana Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Transport and Communication, Mabua Mabua, said scrapping the charges will benefit not only operators but also consumers.
Mabua said a large component of transborder call costs is mainly in the form of roaming or termination charges, which have no bearing on the actual true costs of the calls.
[ The Industry Standard]
that’s the way to go!
Progress!
Now allow VoIP.
#2 I second that one. Allow VoIP, it is the only way you can allow Zambians to competitively enter this market. You keep saying there are too many foreign players, which Zambia investor do you think will part with $12 million to just have access to an international gateway? Whoever made that rule must have been a CHIKOPO who sat in Group 3 throughout their primary school. Why should it be illegal to make skype calls when everybody does it in the world. Which planet are you guys on. We we demand VoIP now so I can start offering villagers in Zambia local call rate for calls International calls so they scan peak with their bululus. :)] :)] :)] :)] :)] :)]
Good progress on a long overdue issue. We have to pursue all elements in order to reduce the high cost of doing business in Zambia.
Yes this is good!!!we now are going to empower more people to make money easy money..the government also has to look at ” White Space” to allow free use of the spectrum..we need to research more on this…
Now that`s what we call development. We expect the call tariffs to fall drastically. The means that MTN and Zain will nolonger have to route calls through Zamtel, so those savings should be passed on to the consumers. The last time i checked on each call generated on either MTN or Zain, there was a 10% charge paid to CAZ, about 15% charge to Zamtel and 17.5% VAT thereby making calls unnecessarily expensive. If Zambia is to develop, the government should deliberately reduce the cost of communication. We are in an Information Age and making communication affordable is the way to go. This is the only positive thing RB has done which FTJ and Levy failed to do. Kudos to RB`s govt.
Good move. :d/
viva RB and his sensible policies. He is truly an Economist
Let not these people fool you, the costs will remain the same!! But they will be gaining alot from this move. ZEdians, we definately need logics lessons
With styupid, self-centered fuls like ba ? 6 Zambia is not going anywhere but to DOGS
Allow VOIP and NONOH..
if ya talk da talk and walk da walk now dats some kinda shit I need tew hear…thingz looking good hope they will be put in place like they say…
walai awe wafulungana! landa pali gateway kaili! haha:d/:d/:d
how does it benefit the common man, like those chaps at the independence stadium?
@ #15 bizzy
It benefits them due to a larger market. Now a fisherman in Luapula can expand his market by receiving orders at a lower price from Tanzania through his cellphone as opposed to Ndola. This therefore expands his business market.
As for the chaps at the independence stadium, it depends on the type of business they take part in.
we now need 10 more daily papers to dilute the monopoly of the post. we are tired of petty politics and gossip.
we need change. not sata. change!!!!!!!
Is there any chance that Zain Zambia will now join “Zain one network feature”, So that I should be able to talk to, Locomotive Banda,Gedion Njanji Zulu, Train Mavuto, all my smuggling partners from Chipata?
16###
Be objective iwe cadre. Pipo of Luapula have got money and self motived unlike you cadre who only
depend on your party
just like the sap song of Chiluba,did it benefit Zedians? only a few and some of you who are paid to blog.
@ #19 Kakabalika
“Be objective iwe cadre. Pipo of Luapula have got money and self motived unlike you cadre who only
And where on this thread did I say the people of Luapula do not have money. I challenge you to produce a quote on this thread where I said the people of Luapula do not have money.
As for calling me a cadre, that is just an attack on me because you have failed to rebut my post on #16.
Now zain Zambia can be part of the One -=Network thing with other african countries…….thats the way to go…now the ball is in zain’s court!
Good, now lets libralise the fuel market. Why does zambia remain the most expensive place to fly to in africa ?.And to drive in. Pleas GRZ remove these shackles from the pipo. A few blood sucking individuals have a strangle hold on jet fuel supply. We know who you are.
Believe me, this gateway license is still on the political level, it will take 1 to 2 years for this kind of license to be issued to Zain or MTN ( if will ever happen). At moment ZICTA doesnt even know what type of licenses will be issuing under the new ICT Bill. You should read between these lines “But despite approving the licenses, the Zambian government will not say how much the new gateway licenses will cost until a new regulatory framework that will provide guidelines on the use of the gateway is put into place.” If you go ZICTA now and for any information on licenses, they will tell you to see them in 6 months.
From the posts above,one would expect some well researched blogs from supposedly well enlightened international students in the diaspora,what a shame!
sometimes its better to just keep quiet than most of the drivel on this blog
Smooth crimial #24. The debate here is normally extremely shallow so i am not surprised. You actually see a lot of name calling from these supposedly educated and exposed bloggers which in my opnion makes them no better than our politicians who do the same.
This is stupid. Liberalization of the gateway happened a long time ago. The issue has always been the cost. The article was just supposed to tell us the new cost and say MTN and ZAIN I can now afford it.
Cell phones are considered a luxury for most governments, it costs about 19 us cents to terminate a call out of USA to Great Britain. The actual cost for the call may be around 9 cents and the rest are tarriffs or taxes that the governments enjoy. Zamtel and the Zambian government at large will not give up the sweet money that comes out of termination cost, this move will allow diffrent participants to begin offering package or bunddled rates for locals unlike the fragmented minutes that the locals are now buying at high cost. To terminate calls from Zambia at extream low rates is still a fairy tell and the idea of VOIP is good but do we have the infractracture and enough human participation for a profitable VOIP solution?
Listen you dumbdumbs praising this stupid decision to reduce the gateway licence fee. Do you know that Zamtel makes about $1million per month from the gateway.Whilst you donot need to be a rocket scientist to acknowledge that liberlization is good for business but at what price.You tell me the two multinationals can fail to pay a one off $12million licence fee.Just like the mines we have again motgaged our country for a chorus with no birthright.Our land has no patriots.All economic refugees will attest that its so difficult to register a business in a foreign country worse open an account or get a residence permti or citizenshipt.The easiest country to get citizenship is Zambia. What a country.**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==**==
Number 28: Very good idea.
Mwenze kuti bakerenka imwe?
Bonjour Monsieur,
Je suis en guinee ,cherche un parteneria entre votre societe et ma societe en guinee,pour que on peut avoir le contra avec Etat.
Cordialement