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Transport, Works Supply & Communications
duced from an equivalent of US$ 12 Million to US$
350,000. Subsequently, the country has witnessed
a considerable reduction in international calling rates
ranging from a reduction of 40% to as much as 70%
depending on the destination.
The Electronic Communications and Transactions
Act provides the legal framework for conducting
electronic business whilst the Postal services Act
provides the legal framework for regulating postal
and courier services.
MOBILE COMMUNICATION
Arising from sound Policies of the Government and
prudent Management, the country has witnessed
continuous and steady growth in the reach and con-
nectivity of mobile telephone services in the recent
past.
There are three mobile service providers namely
Zamtel (CellZ), MTN and Airtel (formerly Zain), which
collectively had a subscriber base of 5,144,000 Mil-
lion as at end of September 2010 reflecting a pen-
etration of 38.5 users per 100 inhabitants.
Zambia’s leading mobile phone firm is Airtel, which
has a market share of around 75 percent, followed
by MTN from South Africa. Cell-Z is ZAMTEL’s cel-
lular service and holds the smallest market share.
International gateway licenses have been awarded
to Airtel and MTN in a bid to bring down the high
cost of communications. Mobile data services using
GPRS and EDGE are available, and the rollout of
third generation technology is in progress, including
3.5G HSPA
Below are statistics of the Mobile service growth pro-
gression.
• In 2007 there were 2,639,026 Mobile users reflect-
ing a penetration of 22.54 users per 100 inhabitants.
• In 2008 there were 3,539,003 Mobile users reflect-
ing a penetration of 26.96 users per 100 inhabitants.
• In 2009 there were 4,165,101 Mobile users reflect-
ing a penetration of 32.28 users per 100 inhabitants.
• As at end of September 2010 there were 5,144,000
Mobile users reflecting a penetration of 38.5 users
per 100 inhabitants.
‘ZICTA ensures the development of greater ICT in-
frastructure throughout the country in order to bring
a similar quality of services to Zambians no matter
where they are geographically located.’
It can be noted from the above statistics that mobile
penetration has grown by over 45.4% in the last 2
years. In terms of geographical reach 42.8% of the
country is covered with population coverage of about
70%.
In order to promote the widespread availability
and usage of electronic communications services
ZICTA Satellite network
throughout Zambia, and to bridge the digital divide
between urban and rural areas, Parliament last year
passed the Information and Communications Tech-
nology (ICT) Act No 15 of 2009. The ICT act number
15 of 2009 established a Universal Access and Ser-
vice Fund to address the provision of electronic com-
munications services in un-served or under-served
areas and communities. The fund is being adminis-
tered by ZICTA (Zambian Information Communica-
tions Technology Authority).
INTERNET SERVICES
Whilst there has been substantial growth in Mobile
connectivity the Internet and broadband connectivity
has been very low with a total subscriber base of
17,754 reflecting a penetration of 0.14 per 100 in-
habitants as at end of March 2010. There are eight-
een licensed Internet service providers out of which
eleven are operational.
In order to facilitate growth in internet penetration
Government has ushered in the new licensing re-
gime under the ICT Act no 15 of 2009 and expects
the operators to extend internet services to all parts
of the country utilizing broadband technologies.
Mobile operators have already risen to the chal-
lenge, with the provision of Internet through Mobile
Phones the number of users accessing Internet
has increased tremendously over the past several