A monthly wrap-up of News Worth Knowing TELECOM TO ROLL OUT 500 NEW TOWERS TO IMPROVE COVERAGE Telecom Namibia plans to roll out 500 new mobile towers in the next five years as part of its plan to improve infrastructure and increase mobile coverage in the country.
“(A document) will be issued to our Ministry so that the Ministry can exempt some of the taxes that are imposed on the devices and the hope is that we can then flood the market with those affordable devices so that we can then address the issue of affordability of devices,” she said. On that same note, Nghikembua highlighted that the affordability of devices is only a small part of creating accessibility to the internet.
The telecommunications company’s rollout of mobile towers is in line with its existing plan to lay out fibre worth N$300 million.
She said some regions are outliers when it comes to internet connectivity with connectivity as low as 49% for regions such as Kunene, Otjozondjupa, Kavango West and Omaheke.
“For Telecom Namibia, we have taken two strategies, the first one is our mobile coverage in the next five years we need to be rolling out 500 new mobile sites, secondly, it is on the fibre rollout we have the biggest footprint in terms of fibre in the country and we've got a N$300 million plan for fibre rollout across the whole country,” Telecom Namibia CEO Stanley Shanapinda said.
“Some of the work that we have done is that firstly we have just awarded additional spectrum to the operators so that they can increase, especially 4G connectivity… And this is why the new license conditions that we have posted are to improve connectivity in those regions,” Nghikembua said.
Telecom Namibia is planning to more than double its investment in network upgrades under its Integrated Strategic Business Plan, aiming to make its data and interconnection faster, increasingly reliable, and more secure. The telecommunications company has initiated several projects to upgrade its core, backbone, and backhaul networks, including the replacement of legacy access systems with next-generation access systems capable of delivering high-speed data transmission. Telecom Namibia has stated that it requires N$2.371 billion in funding to sustain its capital projects from 2023 to 2027. It is reported that there are 1.37 million internet users in Namibia while internet penetration stands at 53.0% with a total of 2.81 million active cellular mobile connections. CRAN PROPOSES SCRAPPING TAX ON ELECTRONIC DEVICES The Communications Regulatory Authority of Namibia (CRAN) has proposed the removal of tax on some electronic devices to ensure affordability and accessibility. The regulator’s Chief Executive Officer, Emilia Nghikembua, said CRAN is working on a study that will be issued to the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology to review taxes that are imposed on some of the devices.
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According to the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology, 49% of the Namibian population still has no access to the internet. FISH EXPORTS SURGE TO N$1.2 BILLION IN AUGUST Namibia's fish and aquatic exports, including fish, crustaceans, molluscs, and other aquatic invertebrates, reached a total value of N$1.2 billion in August with the majority of exports destined for Spain. The Namibia Statistics Agency (NSA) reports that the N$1.2 billion includes N$14.3 million from re-exports, while imports of the same commodities amounted to N$45.5 million during the same month. According to the data, fish and aquatic exports reached the highest value of N$1.6 billion in June 2023 and the lowest at N$695.8 million was recorded in November 2022. According to the Namibia Merchandise Trade Statistics Bulletin for August 2023, the country imported N$45.5 million worth of fish, crustaceans, molluscs, and other aquatic invertebrates in August 2023, with a significant portion coming from South Africa. During the second quarter of 2023, Namibia's fishing industry experienced remarkable growth, with exports reaching N$4.1 billion compared to N$3.2 billion during the same period the previous year.
