Business / Companies
Telecel saga misinformation and sensationalism
13 Mar 2015 at 02:22hrs | Views
From what has been unfolding in this playground fight for Telecel Zimbabwe, a pattern of misinformation and sensationalism has formed.
"Government Orders Telecel to Stop Operating," that headline was from the national broadcaster.
Reports are that the Minister of ICT has called for Telecel to stop operating because it doesn't have a licence and it is violating indigenisation laws.
The industry is regulated by the Post and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (POTRAZ) which falls under the President's Office and it looks like this doen't fall in Supa Mandiwanzira's portfolio. Which means that the Ministry of ICT cannot effectively make the call to terminate the operation of a Mobile Network Operator, without POTRAZ and President's Office passing their own judgement.
A lot has been said about the Telecel management team but it looks like the competent has done extremely well given the almost non-existent investment and their dubious shareholders who are not visionaries in the business. Only a competent management can see the value of negotiating an instalment based licence fee payment schedule compared to a once off payment.
It is on record that Telecel entered into negotiations which resulted in an agreement with the regulatory authority together with the then parent Ministry of Transport and Communications and the Ministry of Finance to pay the license fee over an agreed period with a deposit of $14 million being paid forthwith. Why are people in Treasury not being consulted?
Records at hand confirm that instructions to pay the licence deposit were immediately processed through Telecel banks. Both banks confirmed to both regulatory and Ministry officials the obligation they have to Telecel to meet the commitment. Why is Mandiwanzira not commenting about the instalments that have been paid?
It is not clear for now if Telecel managed to meet its next installment which was supposed to be paid in December 2014.
Telecel has an agreed payment plan with government.
License fees for mobile phone operators valid for 20 years were set at $137.5 million by the Ministry of Transport and Communication last year following the expiry of the previous ones.
However, this is not the first time the issue of Telecel's legal status has taken centre stage. In 2013 its rival Econet Wireless suspended interconnection accusing it of not having a valid operating license.
Services between the operators were only restored following the intervention of the regulatory body and a court order directing Econet to restore connection.
The country's largest mobile operator Econet Wireless made a once off payment for its license renewal.
Talking about level playing fields, when will Net-One start paying VAT to Zimra, interconnect fees to other players and its contribution to Universal Service Funds at Potraz. As they go towards their own licence renewal, we await with bated breaths to see how they will be treated.
"Government Orders Telecel to Stop Operating," that headline was from the national broadcaster.
Reports are that the Minister of ICT has called for Telecel to stop operating because it doesn't have a licence and it is violating indigenisation laws.
The industry is regulated by the Post and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (POTRAZ) which falls under the President's Office and it looks like this doen't fall in Supa Mandiwanzira's portfolio. Which means that the Ministry of ICT cannot effectively make the call to terminate the operation of a Mobile Network Operator, without POTRAZ and President's Office passing their own judgement.
A lot has been said about the Telecel management team but it looks like the competent has done extremely well given the almost non-existent investment and their dubious shareholders who are not visionaries in the business. Only a competent management can see the value of negotiating an instalment based licence fee payment schedule compared to a once off payment.
It is on record that Telecel entered into negotiations which resulted in an agreement with the regulatory authority together with the then parent Ministry of Transport and Communications and the Ministry of Finance to pay the license fee over an agreed period with a deposit of $14 million being paid forthwith. Why are people in Treasury not being consulted?
Records at hand confirm that instructions to pay the licence deposit were immediately processed through Telecel banks. Both banks confirmed to both regulatory and Ministry officials the obligation they have to Telecel to meet the commitment. Why is Mandiwanzira not commenting about the instalments that have been paid?
Telecel has an agreed payment plan with government.
License fees for mobile phone operators valid for 20 years were set at $137.5 million by the Ministry of Transport and Communication last year following the expiry of the previous ones.
However, this is not the first time the issue of Telecel's legal status has taken centre stage. In 2013 its rival Econet Wireless suspended interconnection accusing it of not having a valid operating license.
Services between the operators were only restored following the intervention of the regulatory body and a court order directing Econet to restore connection.
The country's largest mobile operator Econet Wireless made a once off payment for its license renewal.
Talking about level playing fields, when will Net-One start paying VAT to Zimra, interconnect fees to other players and its contribution to Universal Service Funds at Potraz. As they go towards their own licence renewal, we await with bated breaths to see how they will be treated.
Source - Additional reporting from TechZim
