Zambia Earmarks 73 Mln Dollars for Subscriber Expansion

Zambia earmarks 73 mln dollars for subscriber expansion

LUSAKA, April 28 (Xinhua) — Zambia’s state-run telecommunication company has this year set aside a total of 73 million U.S. dollars for a nationwide telephone subscriber expansion program, Times of Zambia reported Saturday.

The money is going to be used for the upgrading of Cell Z to third generation (3G) mobile technology and the installation of a national optic fiber backbone network.

It quoted Managing Director Simon Tembo of Zambia Telecommunication Company (ZAMTEL) as saying on Friday that ZAMTEL has recorded steady progress in rolling out the GSM mobile cellular countrywide.

Under the expansion program Cell Z will be expected to reach all the 72 districts of the country.

“The Cell Z upgrade program will increase subscribers’ levers to between 500,000 and 1 million. The program will cost ZAMTEL over 25 million dollars,” he said in Ndola, the capital of Copperbelt Province.

The national optic fiber backbone network is aimed at catering for the ever increasing demand for transmission capacity for both national and international traffic.

The network installation is expected to be completed next year at a cost of 48 million dollars.

The benefits for Zambia are enormous in terms of reduced costs of international calls, he said.

The laying of the optic fiber is not only an economic necessity for Zambia, but a regional requirement under the EASSY project, said Tembo.

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