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Zambia punishes Airtel over network outage

By , ITWeb
Zambia , 05 Feb 2025
Hussam Baday, Airtel Zambia managing director.
Hussam Baday, Airtel Zambia managing director.

The Zambia Information and Communications Technology Authority (ZICTA) read the riot act to Airtel, ordering the telco to compensate customers for a service interruption over the weekend.

Airtel Zambia, which is led by Hussam Baday as managing director, experienced a new network outage over the weekend, enraging subscribers who were unable to use their services.

Airtel customers were left in the dark on Sunday due to an outage. The outage affected online taxi services, mobile money transfers, and betting platforms.

While the mobile operator said that the outage was limited to internet services, consumers reported that they were unable to make calls or use their mobile money services.

According to ZICTA, the outage affected services in Lusaka, the Southern, Western, Central, and Eastern Provinces and lasted more than three hours.

As a result, Airtel has been forced to reimburse all affected customers for $143 000 (4 000 000 Zambian Kwacha) in services in accordance with the Consumer Protection Guidelines.

Furthermore, Airtel must expedite the upgrade of its network infrastructure, particularly at its critical data centres, in order to improve network resilience by February 28th, as well as implement mechanisms to address recurring network outages and strictly adhere to the Consumer Protection Guidelines.

“ZICTA remains committed to protect the interests of consumers and ensuring reliable communication services. The Authority assures the public that corrective measures are being undertaken to prevent future occurrences,” said ZICTA in a statement. 

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