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Oliver Kazunga Senior Business Reporter
THE Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (Potraz) says revenues generated by Internet Access Providers declined by 8,9 percent in the first quarter to $39,4 million.
In its latest report, the regulatory authority also indicated that the investment by Internet Access Providers (IAP) declined by 76,8 percent during the period under review.
“Revenues generated by IAP declined by 8.9 percent to record $39,4 million from $43,3 million generated in the previous quarter.
“IAPs also invested 76.8 percent less than what they invested in the fourth quarter of 2015,” said Potraz.
During the period under review, IAPs invested $6,6 million compared to 28,5 million in the quarter ended December 31, 2015.
“IAP revenues had always been on an upward trajectory. The decline may be attributed to the general decline in consumer spending in the economy,” it said.
During the first quarter last year, IAPs revenues were $33,7 million and $34 million in the second quarter of 2015.
In the third and fourth quarters of the same year the revenues were $37,5 million and $43,3 million respectively.
Meanwhile, Zimbabwe’s telecommunications service providers’ revenues for the first quarter decline by 12,3 percent to $167,7 million compared to $191,1 million in the prior comparable period
The regulatory body attributed the decline to the substitution of traditional mobile services with Over-The-Top (OTT) as well as the general economic environment.
“OTT voice applications such as Viber, Skype and WhatsApp calling have become popular alternatives for international as they are significantly cheaper; this has resulted in falling international voice traffic and in turn falling revenue from international voice services,” it said.-@okazunga
derick.khumalo