adminThe Herald, 23 February 1995
THE Posts and Telecommunications Corporation yesterday declined to commit itself on whether it will launch the country’s first cellular service before September this year as originally promised four months ago.
A PTC spokesman said the implementation schedule would only be known after finalisation of the contract and when the tenderer had been announced.
The initial tender, published in November 1994, was cancelled by the Government so that specifications for the desired systems could be issued in a standard international form after protests from some companies that the first tender could only see suppliers from Nordic countries considered.
The spokesman said the response to the re-issued tender document had been high.
“The new tender has closed and is being evaluated,” he said, without specifying when the contract would be awarded.
The PTC had intended the cellular service to be operational by the time Zimbabwe hosts the Sixth All-Africa Games, scheduled for two weeks of September.
The spokesman said PTC expected the project would either be equally financed by the corporation and the supplier, or alternatively through a 100 percent suppliers’ credit.
The PTC would only know the actual project cost after the tender had been awarded. The corporation would initially introduce the service in Harare and Bulawayo, benefiting about 8 000 customers, rising to 23 000 within 12 months.
The recent decision by Government to suspend public sector investment programmes due to lack of funds was not expected to affect the cellular project.
LESSONS FOR TODAY
Information, communication technology (ICT) is one of the major infrastructures that drive economic growth and development.
The Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated this fact more than any other issue since the global lockdowns are forcing people to operate virtually using the new technologies. Technology has also forced organisations and people to think outside the box in order to remain viable and have a meal on the table.
Visionary thinking has seen Zimbabwe leap-frogging the manual system of doing business to the digital operating environment, which is now the “new normal”, but more needs to be done, especially capital injection in making sure that the roadmap is beneficial to the country.
The public, private partnerships in ICT development, has seen Zimbabwe building an infrastructure with nodes linking it to the global village. However, instead of being a major consumer of these technologies, Zimbabwe must invest in research and development. Innovation must be the norm. There should be an equivalent of the United States’ Silicon Valley in the country.
The three cellular networks — NetOne, Econet and Telecel that were by-products of the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications’ initiative, have seen Zimbabwe being interconnected to the global village in all aspects of life – economically, culturally, politically and other areas. They have also resulted in major job creations.
Apart from building and upgrading the infrastructure to ensure that every citizen migrates to digital technologies and earn a decent livelihood, there is also need for robust legal instruments that will protect citizens from cyber crime, paedophilia, bullying, etc.
Online Reporter