Thursday, March 28, 2024

The Zamtel story is now changing-Mushimba

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FILE-Transport and Communications Minister Brian Mushimba speaking during the launch of the Connected Car Zamtel service
FILE-Transport and Communications Minister Brian Mushimba speaking during the launch of the Connected Car Zamtel service

Transport and Communications Minister Brian Mushimba says government is impressed with the improved performance of state run telecoms firm Zamtel.
Mr. Mushimba explained that Zamtel has now become profitable having posted some profits over the last few months.

He said government is confident that newly appointed Chief Executive Officer Sydney Mupeta and the installation of a new board will further improve the performance of Zamtel.

Mr. Mushimba was speaking on Thursday when he featured on a live Burning Issue radio programme on 5 FM Radio.

“The Zamtel story currently is very good. As government, we have seen the Zamtel story changing. The company is now in a very good position to compete favourably on the market,” Mr. Mushimba said.

The Minister was responding to a question on how the coming in of a fourth mobile phone provider will affect Zamtel and other mobile phone companies.

Mr. Mushimba said government carried out a thorough market analysis which showed that the Zambian mobile phone sector still had room for more players.

“It is true we don’t want to kill our own child and destroy the market. If you look at MTN, Airtel and Zamtel, they have all heavily invested in this market but our own assessments have shown that the market is robust and big enough to accommodate more players,” Mr. Mushimba said.

Mr. Mushimba stated that all the three mobile phone companies will remain profitable even after the entrance of new players.

“Currently Zambia has around 12 million mobile phone users out of the 15 million people, that is around 75 percent of the population. Our target is to take it to 100 percent coverage. So there is still room for a fourth licence holder,” he said.

Mr. Mushimba said has been modernizing its systems and back bone upgrades and will soon be implementing the phase two of the tower installation project.

“We have communicated to Zamtel to keep improving and become aggressive and as government we are happy with the efforts in that regard. So I know they will be able to compete fairly and squarely,” Mr. Mushimba said.

He added, “with the coming in of the new CEO and the Board, we are confident this will help improve the governance structure at Zamtel and everyone there now has performance contracts and targets to achieve.”

Mr. Mushimba said the coming in of a new licence holder will generate job opportunities and offer tax collection opportunities and increase competition which will in turn improve the quality of service.

18 COMMENTS

  1. @mwebantu , you ve just left my ribs in pain…..lauguing . Indeed 100%, your minister has no idea of what he is talking about. Mentioning figures before marketeers from compounds .

  2. “Mr. Mushimba explained that Zamtel has now become profitable having posted some profits over the last few months.”

    How can you conclude that a company has become profitable at the start of the financial year when have pumped in money….why is it we do not get CEOs from outside why always employing from within? Is it to continue looting…

  3. 12 million out of 15 million. How many out of the 15 million are adults. Then you will find the targetted figure. But it seems the minister wants infants to carry phones.

  4. Please read and learn. 100% penetration rate doesn’t mean children will have phones. It’s that all those that can have and should have phones have phones. Please stop showing your ignorance. The minister was right.

    • Come on! Don’t write for the sake of writing. He talked about the population, not “those who can have phones.” Don’t give your own opinion.

  5. Tell us what has changed. Start by saying what we were doing the other way and conclude with the correction. We should not as a business simply sell to any one our services but rather find people who believe in our services. You have been in the business for so long and yet are in the same status to date. Pronouncements without corresponding action are empty, bwana minister.

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