adminZIMBABWE will be part of three other regional countries that will launch a pilot project to lower mobile phone roaming charges beginning September 1, 2015.
The project is part of an undertaking to speed up regional integration.
Last week, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of ICT, Postal and Courier Services Engineer Sam Kundishora said mobile operators from Zambia, Namibia and Botswana will be part of the project.
Senior government officials from SADC member states attended a meeting on ICT, postal and courier services on August 5 and August 6 where a tentative agreement to allow subscribers to roam across borders at lower rates was struck.
This was a culmination of a meeting by SADC ministers of ICTs held in Namibia in June where they committed to the SADC Home and Away glide path, which allows subscribers on roaming to enjoy the same quality of service as consumers in a particular jurisdiction.
It is believed that the project will boost trade through enhanced communication in the region.
Engineer Kundishora said there are discrepancies in roaming charges from different mobile operators in the country.
“Operators must bring down charges and make them affordable to people.
“We want to gradually lower rates until they are affordable for everyone; traders who move across the region need this to enhance communication,” said Engineer Kundishora in an interview.
Other SADC countries will join the project which is expected to be completed within three years on October 1.
It is envisaged that within the three-year period, roaming tariffs will be reviewed downwards on a 12 months basis.
Uganda, Kenya and Rwanda implemented a similar project on October 1 last year when they cut call rates through the “one network area” programme.
Through this project, Safaricom worked with MTN, Airtel and Tigo to cut roaming charges from US26c to US11c.
However, this did not result in increased voice traffic as subscribers opted for the cheaper social media platforms like WhatsApp and Viber calling.
Local operators charge between US20c and US55c to send a text message in the region on roaming, while a tariff of between US45c and US$3 is levied on calls to Zimbabwe from other countries in the region.
However, the project has stoked fears that the Zimbabwean operators who have been struggling to find common ground on infrastructure sharing may find the roaming plan costly.
The SADC ICT ministers’ meeting resolved that all mobile operators of the four member states participating in the pilot project begin making arrangements for the implementation of the glide path.
This includes amending their bilateral roaming agreements.
Analysts who spoke to The Sunday Mail Business said local mobile operators have nothing to lose from the project.
“Local mobile operators have no cost to worry about. Their charges have been very high anyway, especially on data. Subscribers are the ones benefiting from the lowered rates,” said IT expert Mr Soul Kabweza.
He however expressed concern on whether or not the mobile operators will be willing to comply with the terms of the project.
“It has been hard talking mobile operators into lowering charges given the challenging environment they operate in. I hope they can manage,” he said.
Engineer Kundishora is confident the project will sail through as Government is determined to make it one of the success stories completed during Zimbabwe’s SADC chairmanship tenure.
“We have been liberal to negotiate this with mobile operators over something that was agreed on. It is the implementation that has been lacking, but this year we should see this coming through,” he said.
However, mobile operators will not be forced into reducing tariff agreements with operators in countries that are not participating in the pilot project.
Mobile roaming enhances regional integration and economic development.
Bongani Ndlovu
Online Reporter