Zimbabwe targets 100% teledensity by December

1 Nov 2012

Zimbabwe's minister of Information Communication Technology, Nelson Chamisa says the country has its eyes on 100% teledensity by year end in order to justify the International Telecommunication Union's compliment of Zimbabwe being one of the fastest growing ICT countries in the world.

According to the Post and Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (POTRAZ), Zimbabwe's teledensity is currently at 89,8%.

A teledensity measures the number of active mobile phone SIM cards and landlines as a percentage of the country's total population.

"We have been commended by the ITU as one of the countries with the fastest growing ICT sector in the world together with Kenya and Rwanda," Chamisa said in an interview.

"We need at least to reach the 100% mark, and this is achievable. It seem those who do not have lines do not need them because even the prices of phones, especially the used ones are very low.

"For now we just study the market growth and see any areas of improvement. Our thrust is to gravitate towards the data platform. We need to have more people on the 3G platform and other data services in line with the global trends," said Chamisa.