New Phone Company hits brick wall.
By Constantine Chimakure, Chief Reporter
Harare- A move to establish the country’s third fixed
telephone company with an base of US$117 million, has hit
a brick wall after the Posts and Telecommunications Regulatory
Authority of Zimbabwe (Potraz) said it will not entertain
un-solicited applications for public fixed telecommunications
services licenses.
The notice number 2 of 2004 issued last week, Potraz noted
that in terms of the Postal and Telecommunications act, no
person shall establish a public or private telecommunication
system except in accordance with a license issued by the authority.
The notice was issued after the company, announced last week
that it intended to bring telephone services to the rural
areas and urban areas that have insufficient phone lines.
The company – a joint venture between a private company,
Africom, and two public sector companies Powertel Communications
and Transmedia – said it had applied to Potraz for a
license to operate a fixed telephone network.
“In terms of section 37 of the (Postal and Telecommunications)
act a public fixed telecommunications license is issued by
public invitation in response to technical specifications
issued out the authority,” read the Potraz notice.
The authority, in line with the current Zimbabwe government
policy, has already issued out two public fixed telecommunications
services licenses. The licenses were issued TeleAccess and
Telone.
TeleAccess is yet to commence operations despite being granted
a license in January last year.
“ Until the authority issues a public invitation it
will not entertain unsolicited applications for public fixed
telecommunications services licenses,” said Potraz.
Africom and Powertel Communications wanted Afritell to utilize
their combined existing infrastructure to rapidly establish
a nationwide telephone service that will benefit hundreds
of thousands of people who at present were unable to obtain
a telephone line or have no telephone service in their area.
Powertel is subsidiary of the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply
Authority. It already operates a data network. It has installed
fibre optic cables all over the country, following chiefly
in the path of Zesa’s electricity transmission lines.
Africom has it’s own public data network, which utilizes
a combination of fibre optic cables and wireless broadband
technology, as well as a satellite system. It has an extensive
presence in Zimbabwe; Transmedia is the national broadcasting
signals carrier.
It owns the infrastructure used by the country to operate
radio and television stations.
Transmedia’s infrastructure has an extensive reach,
particularly in the rural areas, as evidenced by the availability
of radio services in those areas.
The new telephone services utilizing in part Transmedia existing
infrastructure, would have similar reach as well.
The three companies intended to put extra capacity that they
currently have on their networks and initially their staff
at the disposal of Afritell.
This was aimed at enabling Afritell to maximize the use of
existing infrastructure, which has plenty of capacity in addition
to the to the traffic it already carries and use new generation
technologies, allowing it to offer extensive and affordable
telephone service to rural area.
In this way Afritell will be able to use extensive fibre,
satellite and radio transmission to provide high quality telephone
service that can be rolled out rapidly.
The Tribune 30 April-6 May
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