Zim to be networked globally: Chamisa

of US$23 million worth of Information Commutations Technology (ICT) investment as well as the broadband infrastructure that will connect to the sea through Mozambique, and worldwide.
“Once this project if fully running it will see the country regain the missed opportunities and neglected advantages of the past decade by ensuring Zimbabwe’s ICT networks are available and affordable anywhere and anytime,” he said.
Experts say if Zimbabwe is wired to the rest of the world a lot of job opportunities will be opened while Government bureaucracy, costs of Internet access and doing business will be lowered, say experts.
The 261km fibre optic cable linking Harare to the eastern border city of Mutare will be commissioned in a few weeks.
The new development will bring relief to players in the sector such as giant cellphone service provider Econet Wireless, Telecel, NetOne and TelOne.
The company’s mobile internet service is said to be a rip-off, compared with cheaper rates in neighbouring countries such as South Africa, Zambia and Botswana.
But expensive broadband connectivity is due to the Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT), the satellite system currently in               use.
It involves transmission of signals by ground antennas rented from international companies at a very high cost, which are far less effective than the cheaper fibre optic.
Growth in the ICT sector almost doubled to 15,2 percent in 2010, from 8 percent in 2000, according to Finance Minister Tendai Biti.
Research has also proven that a10 percent increase in ICT penetration would increase a country’s gross domestic by an average 1,4 percent.
The completion of the fibre optic cabling across the length and breadth of Zimbabwe is a must do, said Minister Biti recently. — CAJ News.