Does Malawi really need four mobile phone operators?
In a bid to improve mobile services and to reduce tariff rates, which are among the highest in southern Africa, the Malawi government recently launched an international tender for a fourth mobile phone operator. In fact, they have been trying to increase the number of mobile phone operators to four since May 2008. But is this the best way to improve service and reduce tariff rates?
The view that tariff rates are very high in Malawi was also corroborated by the Information and Communication Technology Association of Malawi (ICTAM) interim President Derek Lakudzala. Mr Lakudzala points out that the high tariffs, among other things, are due to expensive infrastructure such as towers which is not shared among operators and, therefore, a lot of unnecessary cost is passed on to the consumer. A number of people in my network on Facebook have also mentioned this problem. Mr Lakudzala further says purely pushing the blame entirely on the operators is not correct either. He says tax policy regimes and regulatory frameworks also play a role. On his part, ZAIN Malawi Managing Director Fayaz King says reduced taxes and wooing more customers to existing network would enable companies to reduce airtime prices.
