‘Help us find market for mukula’
By BUUMBA CHIMBULU ZAMBIA is expected to have a fourth mobile service provider by the middle of next year which is anticipated to shake up the local telecommunication industry by providing more competition to the already existing players.
Zambia currently only has three mobile service providers - Airtel, MTN and Zamtel.
Minister of Transport and Communication, Brian Mushimba, disclosed that three international companies had so far been selected awaiting evaluation before the licence was awarded.
“The idea was in 2018 to have this fourth mobile service provider coming on board by mid-next year. We should have it on the market and competing against the other three and provide competition. We expected quality of service to improve,
“I have noticed already that the Airtel, MTN and Zamtel are panicking and running around investing in their network and this is what we are looking for, to ensure to shake up the market. They will compete on pricing resulting in consumers spending less on the networks,” Mr. Mushimba said.
Mr. Mushimba explained in an interview that the three international companies which had expressed interest in investing in the sector would be evaluated to ensure they met the criteria Government was looking for.
He explained that Government was looking for an investor who would prepare adequately into growing the network and provide quality service, including in rural areas.
Mr. Mushimba however said there was a possible extension for the deadline for the tendering process which ended on 24th of November 2017.
“To manage the process and not get 600 application that will take you 600 years to process, Zambia Information and Communication Technology Authority (ZICTA) put an application fee on the tendering process, they had to pay US$100 to get the tender documents,
“So only those that had the muscle and capacity came forward. The report I received is that three companies had expressed interest and the tendering process ended on 24th of November so those three companies will be evaluated to see which one meets all the criteria before we can award the fourth mobile licence to any of them,” Mr. Mushimba said.
Mr. Mushimba said Government was aware that the tendering process would attract a lot of attention from many players because the market in Zambia was ready and Government policies are very enabling. By MAILESI BANDA
CONCESSIONAL mukula tree licence holders in Luapula Province have appealed to Government to help them access markets for the logs, adding that illicit trade in the sector has continued to affect their business.
A representative of the timber traders, Mr Erick Komba, lamented that he had over 3, 000 logs that were legally harvested but that accessing the market was a challenge.
Speaking in an interview with the Daily Nation, Mr. Komba said he was owing K1.5 million in loans due to the non-availability of a market.
“Government should bring buyers to buy mukula logs from concessional licence holders and determine the price since the prices currently being charged on the logs are not fair on the dealers,” Mr. Komba said.
Mr. Komba also said once the government establishes a market, it will be easy for them to collect taxes from the sector.
He noted that the ban on the export of the mukula tree was encouraging corruption.
He explained that the ban on the export of mukula has not helped reduce the number of logs leaving the country, adding that it had instead increased the levels of corruption in order for the logs to leave the country.
Mr. Komba appealed to the government to consider importing mukula trees from the Democratic Republic of Congo and later on export to China to increase revenue for the country.
Mr. Komba said the mukula sector is viable as most timber concessional holders are employing 40 to 50 people from the unskilled labour thereby increasing employment opportunities in the country.
He said the Government should help Zambians benefit from the timber sector.