Zain bemoans telecoms ‘red-tape’

ZAIN Zambia says there are a lot of barriers in the telecommunications industry hindering extended access to communication and bridging the digital divide.

Zain Zambia regulatory affairs manager for government and carrier services, Chabuka Kawesha, said that reducing import duties and sales tax on low-cost handsets could prompt up to 16 to 20 million additional sales by 2011.

Mr Kawesha was quoted in the Zambia Association Chamber of Commerce and Industry Journal, January to March 2009 issue.

He said although this would dent tax revenue in the short term, new subscribers would pay an extra US$4 to US$5 billion in usage tax over the same period.

“Cutting taxes and tariffs on handsets will also expand the tax base by increasing the proportion of legitimate handset sales.

“Hence, any taxation policies should be designed in such a way that they do not add any further barriers to access or add to the cost of service provision for the poor and should not deter or undermine competitive market forces,” he said.

Mr Kawesha said the ICT players are faced with the challenge of implementing appropriate policies that will result in improved investment climate, provision of physical and service infrastructure against limited national resources and competing demands of other sectors.