In Zimbabwe, authorities intend to start monitoring and evaluating traffic on the networks of telecommunications companies, as well as on mobile money platforms.

This comes on the back of sharp differences between the government and some private telecom operators regarding a forced voice tariff reduction instituted early this year.

Zimbabwe is apparently looking at all sectors to shore up revenue flows into state coffers.

On Thursday, the telecom regulator, the Posts and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (Potraz) invited bids for "the supply of a telecommunications traffic and monitoring and revenue assurance system" in the Southern African country.

It said the service would be for the purposes of measuring "all forms of telecommunications interconnection traffic including money transfer handled by telecommunication" networks.

Potraz is seeking to monitor international incoming and outgoing telecom traffic flows, including data and internet traffic.

According to the regulator, "real time measurement, monitoring and billing of national interconnection traffic flows between the various operators within Zimbabwe. Fraud detection, that is ability to detect, track and identify fraudulent routing of telecommunication traffic at both international and local levels."

The regulator also wants to check on the quality of service in the industry.

There have been complaints and concerns, some raised with the Competition Commission in Zimbabwe, over the quality of service by local telcos.