Does Zambia need a 4th Mobile Service Provider

By Brenda Zulu This year Zambia saw the Communication Authority of Zambia (CAZ) advertise for the registration of a 4th Mobile Service Provider. According to the Information Communication Technology policy there are currently three mobile service providers and that there is need for a fourth mobile service provider. The three mobile service providers in Zambia are Celtel, Zamnet and MTN. It should be realised that Zambia currently has a population of about 10.3 million people. There are no statistics to show how many Zambians have mobile phones although it is estimated that more than 5 million Zambians have the phones. These days a mobile phone which seemed to be a shared facility is slowly becoming a personal item in Zambia in that many people have now acquired their own gadget. This trend is slowly increasing because of the falling prices of mobile phones. We even have second hand phones being sold for about less than 20 US dollars. Another contributing factor to the high demand is the fact that the mobile phone platform is easily used by people who speak local languages and unlike the internet they simply do not suffer from the language barrier as they mostly communicate with their friends and relatives. Mobile phones have really become useful tools such that many people who have them now would not like to lead a life without a mobile phone. It is therefore gratifying to see new development in the mobile sector in Zambia.