The Postal and Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (Potraz) is negotiating with power utility Zesa to improve electricity supply to telecommunication operators in order to guarantee the integrity of their service, which is critical for both social and business communications.

The telecommunications industry regulator, however, commended Government for its efforts in addressing the current power shortages. Operators such as TelOne, Econet, NetOne and Telecel have been severely affected by the power outages, which have affected the quality of their services.

Addressing consumers at a consumer awareness event in Mahusekwa yesterday, Potraz head of consumer affairs and publicity, Mr George Manyaya said Zesa is being implored to spare critical telecoms infrastructure from load-shedding.

“As Potraz, we are lobbying Zesa to prioritise the transmission and core network so that data centres, hub sites, and hub centres, among others, should not be subjected to load-shedding. Every transaction lost to load-shedding translates to revenue loss for Government,” said Mr Manyaya.

“The nationwide challenge has affected the sector as all base stations run on electricity as their primary source of power.

“When we have load-shedding, operators have to resort to generators, assuming the site has a generator and the generator has the fuel.

“As the regulator, we need to ensure that we balance affordability and sustainability. Operators need consumers and vice versa.”

He added that measures introduced by Government, such as promotion of solar and other renewable energy sources, would yield positive results for the future of the telecommunications sector.State media