Africa-Press – Zimbabwe. THE Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (Potraz) says the country’s postal and telecommunications sector is poised for transformation, buoyed by new technologies amid the second quarter showing a 9,24% increase in mobile network operators (MNOs) revenue.
This comes as the regulator revealed the local industry is showing promising signs of sustained growth, underpinned by the ongoing deployment of high-speed networks such as long-term evolution (LTE) and 5G (generation).
“Total revenue for mobile network operators grew by 9,24% from ZiG6,15 billion to record ZiG6,71 billion, while aggregate operating costs decreased by 5,47% from ZiG3,68 billion to ZiG3,48 billion,” Potraz said in its new second quarter report for the sector.
Meanwhile, total capital expenditure increased by 261% to ZiG1,53 billion from ZiG423,81 million.
“Internet/data services have become the biggest revenue contributor for the MNOs to the tune of 47,97% in the quarter under review,” the regulator said.
“This is attributed to the growing use of data-hungry applications such as Netflix, YouTube and TikTok, among others.”
Mobile internet/data traffic increased significantly by 17,31% to 130,14 petabytes during the period under review from the first quarter.
“The Zimbabwean postal and telecommunications sector is poised for significant developments as it aligns with broader trends reflected in the Africa ICT Sector Outlook 2030,” Potraz said.
“Albeit increasing operating costs for operators, the sector is showing promising signs of growth, which is expected to continue, with growing confidence in the prospects of an improved economic environment owing to ongoing fiscal and monetary policy measures to maintain macroeconomic stability.”
Potraz said this, in turn, was expected to yield spillover effects in terms of expansion of services, which will help boost demand, which enhances growth prospects for the sector.
“The ongoing deployment of high-speed networks in the form of LTE and 5G portends well for the future, as it forms the basis for adoption of and innovation related to newer technologies such as the Internet of Things, machine learning, and artificial intelligence, amongst others,” the regulator said.
The Africa ICT Sector Outlook 2030, supported by the African Union and World Bank, is a strategic framework aiming for a fully digitised continent by 2030 through increased infrastructure investment, expanded digital skills and policy reforms to foster digital transformation across key sectors like government, cities, agriculture and health.
Potraz said the risks associated with newer technologies were, however, bound to increase.
“These include cybercrime covering financial fraud and social engineering covering phishing, vishing, baiting, and scareware, amongst others,” the regulator said.
“This calls for increased education and awareness programs on these emerging threats on the part of service providers and regulators through collaborative efforts.”
During the period, the sector recorded a 1,23% increase in active mobile subscriptions to 16 089 628 from 15 893 626 in the first quarter.
Resultantly, Potraz said the mobile penetration rate increased by 1,25 percentage points to 102,64%.
MNOs recorded a 0,4% increase in total voice traffic to 4,21 billion minutes from 4,2 billion minutes.
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