By Takura Zhangazha*
The Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of
Zimbabwe (POTRAZ) recent announcement that it has set minimum but high costs for mobile
phone voice calls and data charges sparked a bit of a social media outcry. It hasn’t quite started a hashtag
movement. But the fairness of it all is
being questioned by those that would really use data for entrepreneurial
activities.
The private and state owned telecommunications companies
(Telcos) have predictably kept a satisfactory silence over the issue.
Potraz on the other hand has stuck to its guns on the
matter, insisting that its drastic move motivated by the need for it to ensure
that the telecommunications industry is sustainable.
The reality of the matter is that this move is an awkward
form of protectionism for Econet, Telecel and NetOne. And it proves beyond any reasonable doubt that
the state/government and the Telcos are
working in tandem to squeeze the last dollar from mobile phone and data
users.
This is something that is not new. Telcos and government
have had a long standing collaboration.
While not officially declared, revenue collected from these companies
either in lieu of licensing or other taxes helped to fund not only the 2013
constitutional referendum but also the harmonised elections.
The recent introduction of a tax on mobile phone usage to
support a health insurance scheme (that remains obscure) is further testimony to
this collusion.
The Telcos are therefore a key strategic sector for the
government to accrue revenue. Hence they
tend to get their way with the state. Even if they give the impression that
they do not have a say in what the state does.
A more pertinent issue that however has emerged is how to
measure the extent to which Zimbabweans view and value issues related to the costs of
communicating. Whether through voice calls
or through social media/ internet data.
Regrettably the mobile phone in Zimbabwe is still by and large a
status symbol. And by dint of the same,
so is access to social media or mobile data.
This means, the more advanced your mobile phone, the more you are seen to
have climbed the social ladder. Not that
it really matters. It’s the feeling of
being up to date, being able to whatsapp, that makes one belong to a community
of the exclusively ‘up to date’ and informed section of our society. As well as the most entertained.
Access to mobile telephony and the internet, within this context, is wrongly
viewed by both government and elitist citizens as a privilege and not a
right. For the private companies it is
simply a means to make a profit without any pretence of serving a broader
public interest. Even where they claim corporate social responsibility, it is
essentially limited little to do with the fact that the internt is after all is said and done an essential public good.
In this respect, the announcement of ‘floor charges’ are
only a tip of the iceberg. As many
stakeholders have already indicated, data charges as well as over the top
functions in Zimbabwe were already of high cost.
The fact that they will now be significantly higher may trigger an
effective backlash from consumers but it will not begin to address the overall
challenge that is the evidently opaque relationship and profiteering collusion between the state and
mobile phone companies.
The interlinkages between the pursuit of profit and political
control of social media through cost has been an enduring characteristic of
this telecommunications industrial complex.
It has had its ups and downs (Econet Zimbabwe vs the government) but
these two entities have always found each other where it matters most, i.e
profit.
So as it is, the mobile telephone companies are not going to
insist on keeping costs lower. They will
make the most of what obtains until such a time government through POTRAZ
changes its mind. Even if its only for a month.
Neither will they listen to
the complaints of consumers of their products because they know almost everyone
now intuitively uses a phone and will probably still find a way of being
connected even if at greater cost.
The question that we as Zimbabweans however must answer is
how we view access to the internet and its related applications/new technologies. We would be better off
viewing it as a basic human right in this day and age. Because if we don’t, we will be priced out of
our right to express ourselves or access information.
*Takura Zhangazha writes here in his personal capacity (takura-zhangazha.blogspot.com)
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