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Zimbabwe reverses mobile tariff hike after public outcry

Xinhua, January 14, 2017 Adjust font size:

Zimbabwe on Friday reversed steep mobile data tariff increases, effected on Jan. 11, following a public outcry.

Information and Communication Technology Minister Supa Mandiwanzira said in a statement Friday that the tariff increases were shockingly high and reflected "gluttonous corporate greed."

"I have directed an immediate suspension of the tariff increases that were effected two days ago to the dismay of many mobile phone users," the minister said.

The country's largest mobile telephone company Econet raised its data charges after getting approval by telecoms regulator Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (POTRAZ) on Monday.

POTRAZ had set the new tariffs at a minimum price of 2 cents per megabyte (MB) of data and 12 cents per minute for voice calls.

The new charges gave Econet's users 10 megabytes of data for 1 U.S. dollar, compared to 250 megabytes per dollar prior to the increase.

The new charges drew widespread condemnation from customers and opposition parties.

On Thursday, Econet issued a statement acknowledging that the new tariffs had not only inconvenienced but caused pain to its subscribers.

About 98 percent of Zimbabwe's 7 million internet subscriptions use mobile devices, according to POTRAZ statistics. Endit