By Jonathan Mbiriyamveka
Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (POTRAZ), Director General Dr Gift Machengete says increased load shedding has posed serious challenge to operational efficiency impacting overall quality of service and raising the cost of service provision.
According to 3rd Quarter 2022 Postal and Telecommunication Sector Performance Report, Dr Machengete said the sector continues to be negatively affected by the inflationary operating environment, unavailability of credit reduced real disposable incomes, and shortage of foreign currency amongst other challenges.
“Inadequate foreign currency allocation continues to affect network expansion and maintenance efforts. Unlike other services that may have alternative local supply, the provision of telecommunication relies heavily on imports mainly in the form of equipment, software as well as bandwidth,” he said.
He, however, said the sector continued to grow as more services move to the digital space, contributing to increased demand and consumption of telecommunication services.
“This growth has been supported by the availability of the Internet. which is increasingly becoming more accessible across the country.
“The sector is expected to grow exponentially with increased adoption of ICTs, operator investment and innovation efforts, as well as the Authority’s efforts to close the digital divide,” he said.
“The sector will continue enabling other sectors as envisioned in Government’s National Development Strategy 1 (NDS1).
“One main hurdle to overcome in the remainder of the year is the pressure on the profitability and overall financial sustainability of the sector.
“As this report has shown, although operating revenue increased in the third quarter of 2022, expenditure also rose across all subsectors.”
He said prioritisation of the sector in terms of government expenditure, power availability, protection against vandalism, resource mobilisation, and foreign currency availability amongst other issues was pertinent.
“There is still great scope for the postal and courier sector. As the world becomes ever more connected and digitized, the postal and courier network, with good quality-of-service standards and practices, can serve as the physical connector of choice for e-commerce.
“However, this will require greater financial commitment from the government, more tailored regulation, improved performance by operators, more consumer awareness programs, and greater interoperability with other sectors,” Dr Machengete said.
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