The Zambia Information and Communications Technology Authority (ZICTA) says it could soon issue a fifth mobile licence in a bid to increase competition.
ZICTA Director General Patrick Mutimushi said a fifth operator could compete with MTZ Zambia, Airtel Zambia, Zamtel and Uzi Zambia, which is yet to begin operations.
“There is still the possibility of us accommodating a fifth operator that can still be able to make profit because at the end of the day, the operations must be sustainable,” Mr Mutimushi said.
Mr Mutimushi noted that the regulator’s priority was to ensure competition in the market, saying: “The new licensing regime that we have has opened up the market for anyone to come in the country and invest.”
He said government has conducted an analysis of the market which concluded that a fifth operator would not impact profitability in the wireless sector.
With rates for voice and data services currently high, the Zambian government is keen to push down prices by introducing greater competition.
While Mr. Mutimushi did not provide detail of the immediate future of Uzi Zambia, he said the authority did not get the results it wanted from the fourth operator.
According to the Minister of Communications and Transport Mutotwe Kafwaya, Uzi has assured authorities of its readiness to launch operations in May following a six-month extension granted in November 2019.
Mr. Kafwaya said he is confident the operator will launch this time because “it still has over three months to complete the remaining work.”
meanwhile the operation cost are increasing everyday. The public does not now the amount of fees zicta charges , they very high.
Evidence of positive economic growth under pf
There is no room for another operator in this market. Running a mobile in Zambia is extremely expensive with a very unfriendly taxation. With our small population of 17million which by the way is not even the addressable market, you cant bring in another operator. This is just killing the already existing operators and jobs. It is not the number of operators that will bring phone tariffs low please
Make operators profitable by banning physical cards which are costly for operators the way most regulators have done in most countries and you can get more from their profits, throwing in more players might not be the answer for such a small population. I know a country with 42 million people with only 3 operators
why not fix your airtel inadequacies before bringing on an additional operator. The airtel network is horrible. Please invest in infrastructure.
What you doing is much like accepting more and more marketeers into a space that accommodates only so much
Just bring another operator. Those who want to leave are free to do just that
Revock the licence for Uzi Mobile please, that the company owned by the corrupt Isabel Dos Santos.
Before we talk about the fifth mobile operator, where is the fourth operator who you corruptly awarded the licence two years ago? No.nsense
Meanwhile the first 4th mobile operator Vodafone left because they thought they would flourish on data only.
Is ZICTA that mean?
That’s some stiff market environment. I hope Zesco was in such an arrangement.
Just bring it ..we want competition . Those who can not manage let them leave.
A joke of the day by Kaizar Zulu.(Evidence of positive economic growth under pf) Mr Zulu sir chainama is open 24/7 please come back and visit this hospital no charges will be there for you . Your actions will tell the doctors which room to be admitted. We have 3 working networks in MTN, Airtel and Zamtel . Uzi zambia no one in my contacts has that network how does it work? State House only?
What fifth operator…they have no shame, did we not tell them that Uzi Mobile was a mobile created from looting taxpayers money – they didnt listen as they were just increased in kickbacks even flying to SA using Presidential Jet in secrecy. Corruption again has cost the country dearly under the PF even a basic thing that needs transparency they have to steal.
ZICTA way of counting 1,2,3,5. Must be some serious calculus or wonders just never end!!!!
These are self created problems…integrity test or due diligence would have sorted all this from onset.
Who is ZICTA Fooling?
What happened to VODACOM?
WHY ARE NET NETWORKS CONTINUOUSLY NOT AVAILABLE.
AND WHY ARE BUNDLES STILL EXPIRING?
IT IS A RIP OFF
It would have been better if vodafone was given voice calls and texts. Rather block them the way they have been for years