With current Internet penetration at only 10%, the ICT sector is far from making any meaningful contribution to the country's economic development, says Dominic Sichinga, Zambia's communication and transport permanent secretary.
Sichinga says that despite making substantial technological advancement, Zambia's Internet connectivity levels have remained very poor.
The failure by service providers to expand Internet services to rural areas, and the cost associated with getting services and facilities such as computers, has stifled the roll-out of Internet access in Zambia.
Opening the first ever Zambia Information and Communication Technology Authority (ZICTA) ICT Business Forum in Lusaka, Sichinga said that while mobile phone accessibility covered all corners of the country, Internet connectivity remained at its lowest.
“While we are making progress in extending connectivity to all parts of the country, we are not satisfied with the levels of Internet connectivity. We need to redress the situation,” said Sichinga.
The Zambian ICT sector has about one million Internet users and six million mobile phone users, out of a population of 13.2 million people.
Sichinga said the Zambian government acknowledged that ICT is an enabler to build an information-centred society where everyone can create, access, utilise and share information. However, Zambia's Internet connectivity is concentrated mainly in urban areas, as traditional Internet service providers (ISPs) view rural areas as economically unviable to recoup their investments.
The availability of ICT infrastructure in rural areas would have an enormous impact on these communities. The country's three telecoms operators, however, claim that mobile phone subscribers are now able to access mobile broadband on their phones and laptops, and can now enjoy multimedia services, including Facebook, Twitter, Skype and video chats through the 3G technology.
Other innovations soon to be unveiled by some operators in Zambia include a number management system that will enable customers to create their own phone numbers, and the ISP call network that will enable operators to create different Internet packages for customers, depending on their budgets.
Sichinga added that the Zambian government would continue to engage the private sector and to come up with policies that made it easier to promote the proliferation of ICT at all levels and to all parts of the country.
Last month, the Zambian government suspended all taxes imposed on communication imported into the country by mobile operators in a bid to hasten network roll-out in remote rural areas that still remain unconnected to mobile and Internet communication.
ZICTA board chairperson Mwangala Akapelwa said despite efforts being made by the authorities and other players in the sector, ICT was making a far from meaningful contribution to the economy.
Over the past eight years, Akapelwa said the ICT sector's contribution to the gross domestic product in terms of information was an average of 1.9%.
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