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subscribers from the three mobile network service providers could derail progress made in respect of the country’s tele-density rate.
According to official statistics, Zimbabwe’s current tele-density rate stands in excess of 60 percent, up from a mere 9 percent in 2009 largely attributable to expansion drives by the country’s mobile service providers.
The tele-density rate is one of the critical tools used to measure information and communication technology (ICT) penetration.
Potraz is in the process of compiling the number of unregistered subscribers from the three mobile telecommunication service providers and could soon proceed with the proposed disconnection.
The requirement for mobile phone users to register has the potential to stall telecommunications’ significant growth in the past year or so.
“Currently, some mobile network companies are installing city and intercity fibre optic links, and connectivity with a number of Southern African Development Community region countries is expected around mid-year.
“However, the expected impact of this development could be constrained as the majority of Zimbabweans utilise mobile telephone lines, from which they have access to Internet services,” noted one observer.
According to statistics from the telecommunications regulator, as at the end of August ICT penetration as measured by Internet users currently stands at a mere 11,3 percent.
The estimated total number of internet users in the country stands at 1 410 000.
The huge disparity between ICT penetration as measured by tele-density and ICT penetration as measured by internet use is probably indicative of the depth at which Zimbabwe has adopted the more significant new technologies and complimentary services outside telephony.
A recent study carried out in a number of countries that have introduced compulsory SIM card registration by analyst IHS Global Insight has shown marked declines in tele-density rate in these countries.
“The introduction of mandatory registration of SIM cards in at least 10 countries has resulted in a dramatic slowdown in subscriber growth and will see the disconnection of millions of unregistered subscribers,” noted IHS Global Insight.
According to IHS Global Insight, the requirement has led to declines in mobile subscriber rates in a number of African countries including South Africa, Kenya, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Ghana and Algeria.
Potraz introduced the requirement for mandatory SIM card registration in June last year, initially setting a deadline of August 3. At the end of August, however, official figures showed that only 3,8 million subscribers had registered their SIM cards out of about 6,5 million mobile phone users in the country.
Official figures during the same period show that Zimbabwe had 6 848 000 telephone subscribers, out of an estimated 13 million national population, across both fixed and mobile telecommunication service providers.
The figure is broken down as follows: Econet subscribers 4 100 000; Telecel subscribers 1 270 000; Net One subscribers 1 100 000 and TelOne subscribers 378 000.
However, the figures for mobile telephone subscribers may well have exceeded last year’s figures due to the low cost and availability of mobile SIM cards.
The negative effects of mandatory SIM card registration are particularly serious for African countries that traditionally had weak landline telephony penetration levels, and had benefited from the comparatively cheaper and more accessible mobile telephony services.
According to the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology’s strategic plan 2010 to 2014, the Government has a target to increase national tele-density by 10 percent each year.