Zimbabwe's Information Communication Technology Minister, Supa Mandiwanzira has this week rejected a request by the country's mobile operators for stricter control of Over-The-Top (OTT) messaging and social media services including WhatsApp, Skype and Viber.

Econet, Telecel, and NetOne approached the minister's office to complain that these services and others "were eating into their profits," Mandiwanzira told ITWeb Africa.

"The banning of the over-the-top-services is contrary to the country's notion of diversity and uninterrupted access to technology," said Mandiwanzira. "The government rejected the proposal as it stifles young Zimbabwean's opportunity to develop local solutions that can match or compete with the Silicon Valley OTT services at the same time contributing to the country's economic growth, "he added.

The issue of regulation of OTT services has also impacted on South Africa's ICT sector and was recently debated by the country's parliamentary telecommunications and postal services portfolio committee.

Much like their Zimbabwean counterparts, some South African operators believe it is unfair that these services generate profits by utilising infrastructure paid for by the networks.

Development

Mandiwanzira has requested that Zimbabwe's telecoms industry contributes 1% of revenue to a specific fund for the promotion of the development of local platforms and applications.

Government is expecting to generate up to US$25 million in contributions for the fund in the next two years, he said.

Mandiwanzira also disclosed that the country's mobile money transfers rose 16,3% from US$458 million in the third quarter to reach US$533 million in the last quarter of 2015.