ZICTA to erect 400 towers

By JULIUS PHIRI  –
THE Zambia Information and Communication Technology Authority (ZICTA) is set to put up 400 more communication towers in various parts of the country.
ZICTA director support services, Mofya Chisala said in Chipata yesterday that the towers would boost the communication system across Zambia.
Mr Chisala said in the first phase, 204 towers were erected across the country, including in some chiefdoms.
“Starting September this year, we shall embark on the programme to ensure that more communication towers are erected in various parts of the country and we are talking about 400 towers in the second phase.
“In the first phase, 204 communication towers were erected and of this number 118 were mounted in various chiefdoms across the country,” he said.
Mr Chisala said the project of putting up towers would adequately boost communication services, especially in rural areas.
He also disclosed that 11.9  million subscribers had been recorded since the inception of the SIM registration exercise.
“This does not mean that 11.9 million of the population have been recorded because some people subscribe to more than one network,” he said.
Mr Chisala also said ZICTA was partnering with Chief Madzimawe of the Ngoni people in an effort to reduce early marriages.
He said ZICTA had seen a lot of cases regarding child abuse being reported, adding that the regulator was interested in fighting early marriages.
ZICTA consumer protection manager, Edgar Mlauzi said consumers would always be protected from abuse by network providers.
Mr Mlauzi said according to a survey conducted by ZICTA, youths were discovered to be the highest ICT users.
He cautioned people against uploading pornographic material as they risked being prosecuted.