More shared base stations to be established
THE Government is set to relocate more than 20 towers this year under the shared base station project, which seeks to relocate base stations owned by the country’s three mobile network operators located in the same areas for relocation to other areas on a shared basis.
The shared base stations are expected to enhance telecommunication services in Zimbabwe through providing wider consumer choice and an enhanced service competition which in turn promotes creativity and innovation, infrastructure sharing significantly brings down both capital expenditure and operating expenditure.
Telecel, NetOne and Econet are said to be sharing towers at over 267 sites through commercial swap arrangements, as all the mobile operators are leasing tower space from TelOne.
In response to questions from Sunday Business, Information Communication Technology, Postal and Courier Services Minister Dr Jenfan Muswere said under the initiative to reduce cost of service provision, the Universal Service Fund (USF) is being used to deploy shared base stations in underserved areas, mostly in rural areas that are uneconomic for operators.
“This has seen the construction of 20 shared base stations across all provinces in Zimbabwe, while three are still work in progress as of May 2022. This also includes five MultiOperator Radio Access Network (MORAN) base stations that were commissioned in Mayobodo, Gachegache, Pumula, Donsa and Muswewenhede,” he said.
“Another regulatory initiative funded by the USF is the tower relocation project, which seeks to relocate base stations owned by the three mobile operators located in the same areas for relocation to other areas on a shared basis. Over 20 relocations are planned for 2022.”
The Minister said infrastructure sharing has also gone beyond the sector as the mobile operators are leasing towers from the National Railways of Zimbabwe, Transmedia, Zimra and Local Authorities (tower lights, high rise buildings).
He said Powertel was laying its national fibre backbone over existing electricity pylons and Liquid Intelligent Technologies was also laying fibre optic cables over electricity pylons, in some residential areas, through a commercial agreement with Zesa.
In terms of allocation of additional free spectrum, Dr Muswere said an additional 5MHz of Spectrum in the 2100 MHz band was assigned to Telecel, NetOne and Econet for purposes of congestion relief during the Covid–19 era, free of charge.
He added: “Liquid Intelligent Technologies was also assigned additional Spectrum in the 2300 MHz band upon request for congestion relief.”
He said his Ministry through Postal and Courier Services through the Postal and Telecommunication Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (Potraz) and working with the Mobile Network Operators have intensified the mobile network infrastructure expansion programme so as to enhance network coverage throughout the country.
“The launch of the National Mobile Broadband (MBB) Phase 3 programme by President Mnangagwa will result in over 300 base stations being deployed across the country, predominantly in the rural and formerly marginalised areas where network coverage has been a challenge,” he added.
In terms of the projects to bridge the digital divide, the Minister said the establishment of community information centres was envisaged as a catalytic tool towards the attainment of an information society.
Dr Muswere said the establishment of the Community Information Centres (CICs) project had been accelerated with over 169 CICs and Containerised Village Information Centres (CVICs) having been operationalised to date.
He said the CICs and CVICs were providing free internet services in the various communities where they are located.
On Public Finance Management System (PFMS) kiosks, the Minister said: “In line with the National Development Strategy 1 (NDS1), the Ministry has completed the establishment of 63 PFMS District kiosks.
“These kiosks ensure provision of last mile connectivity to our districts and other service centres for the PFMS network, which is the system used to manage Government finances.”
He said to enhance the PFMS, the Ministry rolled out optic fibre connections to provincial capitals throughout the country and this expansion has ensured the efficient management of Government resources.