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Services provided by Zimbabwe's telecommunications sector will continue to deteriorate if requisite media and communication policies are not put in place to address the policy gaps that affect the sector. These include the pricing policy adopted by the regulatory agency and the failure to adhere to sections of the law resulting in unwarranted interferences in the operations of independent operators.

These challenges will have to be tackled by Parliament and implemented by an independent regulator to avert the collapse of a once vibrant telecommunications sector.

Several developments in the telecommunications sector give credence to this position and this article seeks to address these policy challenges and suggest a way forward to address both issues relating to freedom of expression and communication as well as policy priorities for Zimbabwe's telecommunications regulator, the Posts and Telecommunications Authority of Zimbabwe (POTRAZ) whose impartiality in the administration of the sector remains questionable.

The first relates to recent news that mobile phone operators face serious viability problems as a result of uncompetitive tariffs imposed by POTRAZ.. Failure to adhere to sound policies on pricing as well as impartiality in regulation has already seen the deterioration of services in other media sectors particularly in broadcasting where the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) programming has forced many Zimbabweans to tune into alternative outside broadcasts thereby recording a marked decrease in listener and viewership figures.

Mobile company operators accuse POTRAZ of refusing to gazette tariffs that are competitive, economically viable and commensurate with regional rates. The companies argue that the stipulated regional tariffs are far below economic levels given the costs associated with servicing regional and international calls. These low rates, the operators argue, will make it difficult for them to break even, a situation which could result in some of them having to close shop.

POTRAZ agreed to let the operators increase their tariffs at rates pegged within imposed limits but did not take into account the termination rates of regional and international calls paid in foreign currency. According to a recent alert issued by the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA-Zimbabwe Chapter), for an hour long telephone call from Zimbabwe to South Africa, at a rate of ZW$77.60 (US$0.31), a mobile phone operator will earn less than ZW$5 000 (US$20 bank rate or US$1.40 on the parallel market). Of this amount, ZW$2 250 (US$0.70) will be used to pay termination rates. The operators will be mandated to pay half of the money they earn as termination rates making it to difficult to meet other operational needs which require foreign currency.

A major policy shift and transformation by the regulator is required since the result of the current policy, despite benefiting citizens due to low costs, has the effect of failing to sustain these communication services to the public. Further, it may discourage other players from entering the telecommunications sector. Fair and equitable pricing is required.

The issue of an unfavourable pricing regime is not the only challenge faced by mobile phone operators in hyper-inflationary Zimbabwe. There have been several attempts by the government to mandate all mobile phone operators to use state-owned Tel*One as an international gateway, thereby denying them the much needed foreign currency to pay termination rates. Fortunately, this regulation was suspended after Econet and Telecel challenged it in court on the strength of the nature of the licenses they were granted by POTRAZ.

All mobile phone operators are allowed to have their own international gateways in terms of Section 31 of the Posts and Telecommunications Act under which they are licensed.

This penchant to change the conditions and terms of licenses by POTRAZ notwithstanding existing policy is cause for concern and says a lot about the regulatory authority's ability to independently regulate the sector.

It is common knowledge that in a liberalised telecommunications environment the regulator invariably has to contend with the peculiar problems posed by policies inherited from the past. The regulator does not inherit a level playing field on which new firms of equal power compete freely, but a playing field on which one of the players - Tel*One- has advanced infrastructure compared to the others. Legislative or policy interventions should ensure that regulation is designed to curb the power of the ex- monopolist to allow other service providers to operate. For instance, if the central bank bails out Tel*One, then the same should be possible for other players in the sector. An additional mandate for POTRAZ is to ensure that any network can easily be used to call the other (a situation that can easily be ignored in monopolistic conditions).

POTRAZ must ensure that the telecommunications sector operates viably and that citizens can enjoy its full benefits because this is a key communications sector for a number of reasons.

First, the ability to communicate at reasonable cost and effectively is a basic right of citizens if they are to fully participate in society. This compels the government to ensure that the environment provided for companies in this sector is conducive for them to sustain basic communication services including the ability to introduce other available innovations. The ability to join the new information society is critically dependent on the telecom operators maintaining services and keeping abreast with innovations.

Secondly, the convergence of telecommunications, IT and the media has made this sector increasingly important as a means of obtaining and delivering information. Internet depends on telecommunications and so are many other sectors of the economy.

Finally, telecommunications services are a fundamental component in the viable operations of many service industries. Their availability and price influence production in many other sectors and are a fundamental element in the choice of investment location for many multinational firms.

Communication and information pervade the economic, political and social life of any country, which is the reason why civic media organizations such as Misa Zimbabwe have advocated for a national media and communication policy defined by Parliament and implemented by an independent regulator.

*Sizwe Thuthuka is a member of Misa Zimbabwe. He can be contacted via e-mail at misa@mweb.co.zw

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