Government approved ‘inflated tariffs’

Mobile operator Econet Zimbabwe says the existing tariffs were approved by the Postal and Telecommunication Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe.
Potraz last week said a costing model exercise by a German consultant showed that local mobile network providers were charging 30 percent more than they should.

This has sparked public outrage, and now Econet Zimbabwe has said it was simply implementing what the regulator approved. Econet spokesperson Mr Rangarirai Mberi said: “We have to correct the wrong impression that has been circulating in the public domain to the effect that current mobile tariffs were arbitrarily set by the mobile operators.

“This is far from the truth, as the correct position is that existing mobile tariffs in Zimbabwe were implemented based on a well-known pricing model which was accepted by the operators and approved by the regulator.” Mr Mberi said critics should also be mindful of Zimbabwe’s economic environment when making regional comparisons.

“In doing regional comparisons, one has to be careful and take note of the fact that no other country is under the same economic challenges and sanctions as Zimbabwe, and that service demands are not different from what is expected in other countries that have better economies.”

NetOne public relations manager Mr Rutendo Chabururuka added: “Who says (the tariffs) are 30 percent higher? Higher than whose? Who has the comparative figures? That will help me address your questions better.”

On being informed via e-mail that the claim came from Potraz, Mr Chabururuka did not reply. Telecel Zimbabwe requested written questions but had not replied by the time of writing.