Africa-Press – Zambia. Zamtel has today announced the commencement of installation works of a ‘10 million-subscriber capacity Online Charging System’ equipment that will allow it to double its subscriber base by 2023.
The equipment valued at US$5.7 million will be installed and commissioned over a period of three months and will facilitate easier subscriber management process.
When fully commissioned, the new equipment will enable Zamtel increase its active subscriber capacity from the current 4 million to 10 million. Zamtel is currently operating at over 92% capacity utilization, with an active subscriber base of 3.7 million.
Commenting on the development, Zamtel Chief Executive Officer Sydney Mupeta stated that the installation of the new online charging system is a huge milestone in positioning the Company for future growth. Mr Mupeta noted that the old system was constraining growth as it limited the number of new customers that could be added to the network.
“We have had a number of customers who were falling off the network because their numbers were reassigned due to inactivity and they could not be re-added because the system had reached near capacity and that proved to be frustrating to such customers. This new online charging system will now address those aspects,” Mr Mupeta said.
He added that the installation of the new equipment will also involve migration of all Zamtel customers to the new system which might cause minimal disruption of service.
“As we are installing the new equipment, we will also be migrating our customers to the new system which might result in service disruptions. We will do every possible to keep the service disruptions at a bare minimum.”
Mr Mupeta emphasized that the new online charging system will put Zamtel on a clear path to growth and ensure that the Company remains competitive by offering quality traditional and digital solutions to its customers in line with its corporate strategy.
