The Posts and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe has failed to defend its recent tariff hikes for data and even contradicts itself in a self-set question and answer format ostensibly meant to justify the recent floor price.
Although the regulatory authority says the new floor price, which slashes all promotions that Zimbabweans were enjoying, was agreed by the mobile phone operators but the government-owned Netone, which is now the second largest operator and is closing in on Econet, has not yet raised its tariffs and is reportedly appealing to POTRAZ.
POTRAZ totally fails to answers its own question: Does setting a floor price not stifle innovation in the telecommunications sector and put the burden of reduced revenue on the consumer by making them pay more for data services?
It also fails to adequately answer another question: Some members of the public have complained that the new floor prices make data specifically more expensive for example a 250mb daily bundle from Econet would essentially be priced at $5 and NetOne’s One Fusion package is likely to become more expensive. Why then would POTRAZ opt for tariffs that will make data more expensive for the consumer particularly in the prevailing economic climate?
The answers provided by POTRAZ are so dismal that this gives the impression that the move was probably dictated by the government which is seeking t clamp down on social media especially facebook and whatsapp which have increasingly become the means of communication for most Zimbabweans.
Below is the POTRAZ Q &A
Continued next page
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