adminTanaka Mahanya
THE Global System for Mobile Communications Association (GSMA) has discussed the high taxes in Zimbabwe’s telecoms sector at a workshop held in Harare yesterday.
Although half of the population over the age of 18 years uses the internet, connectivity remains an issue, with many people citing a lack of funds for the cost of mobiles as a reason.
GSMA director of spectrum and industry services, Kamal Tamawa, said many people in Africa were not utilising internet connection due to different reasons, which include lack of sufficient funds.
“To address barriers to connectivity, there should be approaches aimed at successfully increasing levels of mobile internet coverage, adoption and usage matters.
“Therefore, any policies to reduce the cost of mobile, and especially of devices, should help to drive greater digital inclusion,” he said.
Hilda Mutseyekwa, director of economics, tariffs and competition at the Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (POTRAZ), said that there needs to be a campaign to convince tax authorities to adjust their policies.
“We are discussing issues to do with service affordability and also connectivity for all.
“These are issues to deal with the computation of the mobile connectivity index and from that, we are hoping that we will be able to use that tool to make informed decisions in terms of policy formulation and other regulatory decisions.
“We hope to also convince our tax authorities to consider changes in the tax policies so that we enhance our performance in terms of broadband and mobile connectivity which will be beneficial to the country,” she said.
Bongani Ndlovu
Mathew Masinge