This week, the Herald carried an interesting article on the national fibre backbone project. Carefully titled “Laying of fibre optic cable progresses well” the article disclosed that TelOne, the country’s only fixed telecom operator is digging a fibre cable trench to Mutare.
That a state operator is laying a fibre backbone connecting to high speed fibre points in neighboring countries is reassuring but the details are somewhat not so assuring.
A TelOne representative Hampton Mhlanga is quoted: “Our trenches are still 15 km out of Harare towards Mutare but the good news is that work has started”. That’s more than 250km to go! If that didn’t get you worried, the next statement probably will: “Mhlanga said TelOne was still waiting for equipment and cables” to be delivered by end of July and “expects to complete the whole process of laying by November 5”
It sure is progress, we just wouldn’t attached the word “well” to this kind of progress. Anyone familiar with such projects would not be too optimistic with that November target. So yes, we don’t feel so reassured anymore. Remember the ICT minister told us we’d be connected by March 2010.
Why we say a state operator doing the backbone work is reassuring is this: Like most of you we don’t feel safe when private companies hold keys to basic needs (some would say rights) like the Internet. We all witnessed the insensitive profiteering that took place last year when mobile operators took advantage of the shortage of sim cards on the market. A card that should not cost more than a dollar, in fact that costs just a dollar right now, was sold for around US $10.
Arguments about the need to recuperate from a decade of losses were thrown around at that time. But that slope is slippery one and line between recuperating and profiteering too thin so I for one didn’t buy any of it.
Of course issues of the capacity of the state operators come into play. A long discussion indeed. You can share your thoughts on the subject in the comments below.
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5 comments
Worrying in deed. progressing well and waiting for equipment at the same time sounds very dodgy.
I thought Africom had already dug a trench all the way from Harare to Forbes border post in Mutar,, I actually witnessed trenching going on in Mutare. Something doesn’t sound right here
True that. Issues of Infrastructure sharing here. They probably didn’t agree on some issues. Will follow it up with Africom.
History is rife with examples of so called state operators being ‘given’ resources and favourable conditions to make something happen, which then goes on to become a complete disaster. This is one such example. i personally have no faith whatsoever in Telone to do anything right, and to say that we don’t feel safe when private companies hold the keys to basic needs or rights is short sighted and smacks of unrealistic opinions. I hate profiteering but applauding when a state operator joins the fray in the name of bringing cheap access to the masses is like putting faith in politicians to do the right thing. Cheap internet access is needed, but not at the expense of quality and accountability, and unfortunately these things come with a price. And remember, there are many, many agendas involved with this Telone internet access thing.
Egypt’s problem is its people. They need to change like this Unifreight Global Logistics company in Alexandria DONT deal with them they are thieves. They opened my shipment and stole from my goods entering Egypt. . What type of country allows thieves like these people to operate as a business. They put an illetrate coward Hany and his brother Hysam Rashid who, provides many excuses and probably has a deal with customs to steal peoples good. What a place Egypt in 5000 years they are still a thief, begger and corrupt people.