admina representative from one of the largest fibre laying consortiums in Africa, WIOCC, Mr James Wekesa.
Other panellists included IConnect Zambia’s Mr Winston Riston, Telecel marketing director Mr Octivius Kahiya, Gtel’s head of marketing Mr Robert Gonye and TechZim’s editor Limbikani Kabweza.
Mr Behr, the managing director of Liquid Telecoms, which is currently one of the biggest fibre optic laying enterprises in Africa, kicked off the forum with a brief history of the internet and how best African countries can tap into the global village.
Of concern to him was that internet is being driven from America and other European countries at very high speeds for entertainment yet in Africa we are still struggling to get good speeds for business.
One of the pertinent issues that sparked a lot of debate was that of sharing infrastructure among service providers.
While the panel was in agreement that it was a good idea it was, however, noted that it comes with lots of impossible implementation strategies, which the players could not yet solve.
Mr Behr said: “Small aspects like who will maintain the fibre in certain areas and running it may be irresolvable if there is no proper planning.”
Mr Wekesa said the internet is not an expensive service but it is constructing the platform that costs the Internet Access Providers and once it is place availability and accessibility is unlimited.
Service providers have not responded to calls to share backbone infrastructure opting to lay their own cables, which has resulted in chaotic scenes mostly in urban centres.
Mr Wekesa said that sharing the infrastructure is the only way forward if Zimbabwe wants to enjoy affordable internet access at high speeds.
“The world over internet is shared; there is not any fibre provider which at one point is not sharing infrastructure. What Zimbabweans require is the will to start sharing their infrastructure now, the further they delay and continue to dig up trenches independently the more the general people will suffer due to the costs that is passed onto them,” he said.
Another issue of interest was on Mobile Number Portability (MNP) which is the ability to switch from one mobile network to another without need to change one’s phone number.
Mr Kahiya said that as Telecel they have not a problem with Mobile Number Portability.
“In fact, if the clients are ready to have it switched on we are more than ready to implement it. This is much more of a client-driven initiative than our own policy matter although they may be challenges in the implementation process,” he said.
Mr Gonye added that as a mobile phone manufacturer they were mostly concerned about the user being able to get that satisfaction on their android- based platforms with more local-based apps which are already available on their phones.
A lot of issues were also discussed which I cannot adequately cover in this instalment. However, the important issue is that Telecel and TechZim should be commended for coming up with such a platform.
Such forums have the potential to impact national policies and encourage constructive criticism which can shape the future of technology in Zimbabwe as almost all organisations that really matter were present.
The writer is an award-winning and founding editor with TechnoMag, More on Tech on www.technomag.co.zw or join us on our Facebook page www.facebook.com/technomagz and enjoy free airtime quiz games. Email ictarticles[at]technomag.co.zw
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