BY WARYOBA YANKAMI
14th November 2014.
The project that was launched yesterday in Dar es Salaam is undertaken by the Vietnamese telecommunication firm, Viettel, which launched work in the Coast Region yesterday.
The launch of the project comes a few days after President Jakaya Kikwete visited the company in Vietnam. Following the president’s visit, Viettel is to invest over USD1bn
Speaking during the ground breaking ceremony at Lupungu village in Kibaha Rural District yesterday, the Communications, Science and Technology minister Prof Makame Mbarawa said the company will construct communication towers mostly in rural areas where majority of Tanzanians do not access telecommunication services.
Mbarawa said that the government has already spent 38.7bn/- to install communication infrastructures in 1,278 villages which have communication breakdown.
He however noted that telecommunication firms in the country have shown little interest in investing in rural areas because there are no enough customers.
Prof Mbarawa said that Viettel has agreed with the government to reach 4,000 villages across the country in three years time.
Between October this year and October 2015 Viettel will install 3G towers in 2,000 villages, he said.
However, between October 2015 and October 2016 the firm must have installed 3G towers in 1,800 villages, while between October 2016 and October 2017 the company must have the last installations of 3G towers in remaining done in 1,200 villages.
In the contract, the firm is required to complete the connection of 13,000 kilometers of fiber optic in the regions where the government has connections to all districts throughout the country.
The firm also has been tasked to connect all district hospitals, police stations, 65 postal offices and District Commissioners’ offices with the fiber optic and three government schools in every district should be connected with internet.
Besides, the minister said Viettel also gave conditions to the government to fulfill in order for it to work as per terms of contract.
The firm wants the government to provide free open space under Tanzania National Road Agency (Tanroads) for it to conduct fiber optic connections.
Also it wants the government to speed up the granting of permits by the National Environment Management Council (NEMC) and the Civil Aviation for which it will pay but restrictions of getting the same must be removed, he said.
The Viettel telecommunication will build 80 3G towers in Kibaha Rural District only where the Acting Coast Regional Commissioner Ahmed Kipozi called upon the villagers to cooperate with the firm so as to enable it complete its work as scheduled.
President Jakaya Kikwete visited the company’s headquarters in Hanoi on the first leg of his official visit to Vietnam in October this year.
Viettel Chairman, Nguyen Manh Hung said the investment will make Tanzania the country after Peru to have a modern communication system among the countries in which the firm operates.
Hung noted that his company plans to reduce the price of a regular mobile phone to USD15, which is equivalent to 25,000/- and that of a smart phone down to USD40 (65,000/-).
SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN
No comments :
Post a Comment