Audrey Galawu
The Postal and Telecommunications sector recorded a growth in internet and data usage with a 11.6% increase to reach 42, 058,3 Terabytes in the second quarter from 37,690,4 Terabytes recorded in the first quarter.
The increase has been credited to the Covid-19 pandemic which is now characterised by remote working and e-learning and the increasing smartphone penetration worldwide
In a Performance report, Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe said the used incoming International Internet Bandwidth Capacity increased by 8.3% to record 318,742 Mbps, from 294,201Mbps recorded in the first quarter of 2023.
Potraz also recorded a decline in Public Switched Telephone Network Fixed voice traffic vis-s-vis growth in mobile voice traffic.
“PSTN fixed voice traffic declined by 6.5% to record 72.4 million minutes in the second quarter of the year, from 77.4 million minutes voice in the first quarter.
“On the other hand, mobile voice traffic increased by 0.2% to record 2.53 billion minutes recorded in the second quarter, from 2.52 billion minutes recorder in the first quarter.
“The decline in fixed voice substitution with over-the-top communication such as WhatsApp and Facebook that are affordable as they ride on data,” reads the report.
The regulator noted that the sector recorded growth in revenue and rising operating costs across all markets.
The second quarter of the year saw both revenue and costs increasing in every segment.
Internet Access Provider revenues grew by 136.9% to record ZWL191.2 billion, from ZWL8.07 billion recorded in the first quarter.
“Operating costs for IAPs grew by 428.8% to record ZWL224 billion from ZWL42.4 billion recorded in the previous quarter. Total revenues generated by the postal and courier sector increased by 249% to ZWL20 billion, from ZWL5.7 billion recorded in the first quarter of the year,” Potraz stated.
Potraz said the sector remains optimistic that positive growth can be realized in the coming quarters of the year.
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