TANZANIA Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA) has advised telecommunications service providers and all stakeholders to ensure positive use of services to support the country’s economic development through the sector.
TCRA Director General James Kilaba advised this in Dar es Salaam on Friday ahead of World Consumer Right Day marked on March 15 every year.
He insisted that the authority recognised communication as key to development, thus it was its responsibility to assure the interest of users was wellprotected.
He said the major objective of the day was raise public awareness on consumer rights and needs.
Mr Kilaba said this year’s World Consumer Rights Day would be marked under the theme ‘The sustainable consumer’ which focused on emphasising the importance of accessing sustainable services in the telecommunications sector.
According to him, as regulatory body developed and launched its third edition of consumer services and communications products in 2019 with the aim of presenting users with the best procedure to be observed when using services and communication products.
“We have prepared guidelines to help Tanzanians use services to address challenges which can affect the use of service and telecommunications products,” he stressed.
The theme aims at increasing efficiency in using resources, including all categories of businesses.
Telecommunication services can also help alleviate poverty and enable everyone to enjoy a better life.
He said TCRA had been holding meetings with various stakeholders in schools and higher learning institutions and in various regions, including Singida, Shinyanga, Tabora, Arusha, Zanzibar, Coast and Dar es Salaam.
He noted that to ensure the telecommunications services provided were safe and sustainable and productive for development TCRA established biometric registration of SIM cards in 2018 exercise had been beneficial.
“Until March 10, this year, the number of Simcards connected online is 43,072,868 while biometric registration SIM cards are35, 813,455, which equivalent to 83.1 per cent of all Sim cards.”
Mr Kilaba asked consumers to be aware of their rights when using the telecommunications services.
