Telecommunications sector reform : liberalisation and universal service policy in Zimbabwe

Abstract

Past policies in Zimbabwe have have not given the telecommunications sector appropriate emphasis and priority. Pertinent policies are therefore required to spur growth in the sector while safeguarding citizen's access. When discussing the inefficiency of public utilities such as PTC, the macro-discursive agenda should shift from general complaints towards analysing the mismatch between the specific privileges and obligations that exist in the public service model. The debate on liberalisation and the introduction of value added services such as cellular telephony in Zimbabwe has been informative, in as far as it has struck at the core of constitutional provisions guaranteeing citizens access to communicative channels. However, I advance the thesis that the liberalisation/privatisation argument should not distract our attention from considering optimising existing and emerging capacity so as to sustainably redirect telecommunication services to the bulk of the population. At the micro-level, this involves the promulgation of appropriate legislation which establish safeguarding institutions such as an independent regulatory authority. This body will, hopefully, transcend the free-market paradigm to harmonise competition rationale with universal service policy and ensure that the situation does not gravitate towards the extremes of blatant commercialisation on one hand, or inept state monopolisation on the other. The study considers liberalisation and universal service policy in Zimbabwe against the backdrop of both general deabtes on the role of the state in distributing communicative resource, and particular debates on the role of universal service in guiding telecommunications policy making.