Chronicle Editor
Judith Phiri, Business Reporter
TELECOMMUNICATIONS revenue grew by 17,8 percent to record $29,1 billion in the third quarter of 2021, from $24,7 billion realised in the second quarter of 2021, the Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (Potraz) has said.
However, despite the total telecommunications revenue growth, total telecommunications operating costs grew by 40,7 percent to record $19,7 billion in the third quarter of 2021 from $14 billion in the second quarter of 2021.
Presenting the key trends observed in the Postal and Telecommunication sectors during the third quarter of 2021, Potraz director general Dr Gift Machengete said the economic environment directly affected the performance of the postal and telecommunications sector.
In terms of the growth in revenue vis-à-vis rising operating costs across all markets as shown by the third quarter performance report released by the regulator:
“Total telecommunication revenues grew by 17,8 percent to record ZWL29,1 billion in the third quarter of 2021, from ZWL24,7 billion recorded in the second quarter of 2021.
“On the other hand, total telecommunications operating costs grew by 40,7 percent to record ZWL19,7 billion in the third quarter of 2021 from ZWL14 billion recorded in the second quarter of 2021.
“Total revenue generated by the postal and courier sector increased by 31,7 percent to record ZWL454,1 million in the third quarter of 2021 from ZWL344,9 million recorded in the second quarter of 2021; operating costs increased by 8,5 percent to record ZWL366,3 million from ZWL337,8 million recorded in the second quarter of 2021.”
Dr Machengete said the sector continues to be negatively affected by the inflationary environment, unavailability of credit, reduced consumer spending, shortage of foreign currency among other challenges.
He said the situation has been aggravated by prolonged load-shedding, impacting overall quality of service and raising the cost-of-service provision.
Dr Machengete said inadequate foreign currency has affected network expansion and maintenance efforts.
“The introduction of the auction based foreign currency market system is appreciated, but the allocated foreign currency has not been sufficient to meet all network maintenance, upgrade and investment requirements.
“Unlike other services that may have alternative local supply, the provision of telecommunication relies heavily on imports mainly in the form of equipment, software as well as bandwidth.”
Active mobile telephone subscriptions increased by 3,4 percent to record 13,9 million in the third quarter of 2021, from 13,5 million recorded in the second quarter of 2021; the mobile penetration rate increased by 2,2 percent to reach 93,5 percent from 91,3 percent recorded in the second quarter of 2021.
Potraz said the total number of active internet and data subscriptions increased by 1,2 percent to reach 9,3 million in the third quarter of 2021 from 9,2 million recorded in the previous quarter, while the internet penetration rate increased by 0,3 percent to reach 62,6 percent from 62,3 percent recorded in the previous quarter.
“On the other hand, active fixed telephone fines declined by 0,4 percent to reach 244 316 in the third quarter of 2021, from 245 322 recorded in the second quarter of 2021. Hence, the fixed tete-density declined by 0.1 percent to reach 1.6 percent from 1.7 percent recorded in the second quarter of 2021,” added the regulator.
It said that mobile internet and data traffic increased by 10.4 percent to record 25,882TB in the third quarter of 2021 from 23,436TB in the second quarter of 2021.
While, used international incoming bandwidth capacity also increased by 4.1 percent to record 188,768Mbps in the third quarter of 2021 from 181,309Mbps recorded in the second quarter of 2021.
Potraz said the demand for internet and data has been consistently increasing; from school lessons, office work to entertainment and even church attendance — more aspects of people’s daily social and professional lives are moving online.
It said the total mobile voice traffic increased by 16,67 percent to record 2,1 billion in the third quarter of 2021 from 1,8 billion minutes recorded in the second quarter of 2021.
While fixed telephone voice traffic declined by 1,2 percent to record 87,1 million minutes in the third quarter of 2021, from 88,2 million minutes recorded in the second quarter of 2021.
Potraz said the decline in fixed voice traffic may be attributable to the decline in active subscriptions in the quarter under review.
The total postal and courier volumes increased by 25.9 percent to record 732,303 items in the third quarter of 2021 from 581,450 items recorded in the second quarter of 2021.
“The growth in total volumes emanates from a surge in international incoming courier. After suffering setbacks from the global Covid-19 pandemic, postal and courier volumes have been steadily increasing.”
Dr Machengete said the ICT sector has transformed and evolved due to the Covid-19 pandemic with the outbreak resulting in increased demand and acquisition of ICT services by consumers.
“The sector is expected to continue evolving rapidly with increased innovation and enhanced connectivity in the country.
“Going digital is now more important than ever with the Covid-19 pandemic continuing to transform how we live, work and interact with one another.
“As the pandemic continues to disrupt normality, the importance of a robust and inclusive digital economy, together with reliable broadband services is imperative,” he said.
He said the pandemic has exposed access gaps in the country, demonstrating an urgent need to bridge the digital divide.
Dr Machengete said this could be achieved through Government intervention and innovative public-private partnerships aimed at improving the digital landscape by assuring access, equity and affordability of telecommunication services to all.
He said particular attention needs to be paid to rural areas as broadband coverage of technologies, such as LTE, is still sparse.
Dr Machengete added: “The postal and telecommunications sector remains intrinsic to the country’s economic growth; it has also become an essential enabler for other sectors.
“The sector is expected to continue enabling other sectors as envisioned in Government’s National Development Strategy 1 (NDS1).”
He said there was a need for concerted efforts in the consolidation of strategies that deliberately focus on ICT development, executing smart policies and effective processes that embolden investments in ICTs and digital skills, and embracing emerging technologies that are crucial to the digital economy.
Online Reporter