All three Zambian mobile operators have been dragged to court by the Zambia Information and Communication Technology Authority (ZICTA) for alleged ‘poor communication services’.
ZICTA has said that the alleged poor quality of service on offer from MTN, Airtel and Zamtel are ‘criminal in nature’, hence the decision to institute court proceedings against the three operators.
Complaints of dropped calls, network congestion, network outage, poor customer service, lack of confidentiality and a widespread lack of network availability have flooded the likes of the Zambian Consumer Association, according to Muyunda Ililonga who is the executive director of the consumer body.
It is the first time however, that ZICTA is dragging operators to court as a result of these complaints. The move further follows repeated warnings by the regulator.
ZICTA is hoping that potential prosecution of the three companies could force them to provide better communication services to the public.
The authority’s public relations manager Ngabo Nankonde has said ZICTA has the ‘right’ to ensure that the three operators deliver on the basic minimum standards of quality service.
“The decision was arrived at after the June 27 full board meeting that authorised ZICTA to prosecute all the three mobile phone service providers for offering poor quality of service to the public,” Nankonde said.
ZICTA’s move to hit out at the three operators also comes after it has been criticised for not being tough enough.
In April this year, the then minister of communications and transport Christopher Yaluma accused ZICTA of having teamed up with the three operators to exploit the public rather than perform its regulatory role of ensuring quality of service.
Yaluma later directed ZICTA to come up with a clear strategy on how to improve access to information and communications technology (ICT).
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