Zimbabwe engages foreign investors for base stations

By Staff writer | 22 Feb 2019 at 10:27hrs
Kazembe
Government has engaged at least two potential foreign investors for the setting up of Base Stations across the country.

The State, through the Postal and Telecommunication Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (POTRAZ), has been setting up Base Stations countrywide in tandem with efforts by the three mobile telecommunications operators, Econet Wireless Zimbabwe, Telecel Zimbabwe and NetOne.

As at the end of last year, POTRAZ had built 367 Base Stations across Zimbabwe utilising the Universal Services Fund (USF).

However, foreign currency shortages have constrained Government's capacity to speed up the project, while the mobile telecoms companies are not setting up Base Stations in areas where they do not consider to be viable.

Minister of Information Communication Technology and Courier Services Kazembe Kazembe, said going forward, the setting up of new base stations will be on a Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) basis.

A BOT (also known as build–own–operate–transfer (BOOT) is a form of project financing, wherein a private entity receives a concession from the private or public sector to finance, design, construct, own, and operate a facility stated in the concession contract.

"We are looking to have investors come in to install Base Stations on a Built Operate Transfer (BOT) basis. We have already identified a couple of potential investors who are willing to come and install a lot of base stations to cover the mobile connectivity gap," said Minister Kazembe in an interview on StarFM this week.

The minister also highlighted efforts being carried out by companies in enhancing Zimbabwe's connectivity.

"We also have the likes of Liquid Telecoms and TelOne that is working to ensure that they cover the whole country with fibre optic," he said.

Zimbabwe is still lagging behind in terms of internet connectivity, with the internet penetration rate coming in at just above 50 percent, according to figures recorded in 2018.

As at the end of the second quarter of 2018, the country's Internet penetration stood at 51,9 percent, a 2,8 percent increase from the previous quarter, according to POTRAZ statistics.

During the period under review, the biggest increase in Internet connections during the period was registered for fibre and mobile subscription, which rose by 17 percent and 6 percent respectively.

Active fibre connections stood at 38 840 with this huge jump attributed to the extensive LTE rollout of fibre in residential areas as a result of the increased appetite for faster internet speeds by citizens.

Out of the 7 197 279 internet connections during the review period, 7 029 055 were for LTE, 2G, 3G, and HSDP. This indicates how mobile internet is still the leading form of broadband used by Zimbabweans.

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