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Nqobile Tshili, Chronicle Correspondent
Government yesterday slashed data charges by more than 60 percent to promote social media usage and e-payments.

Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (Potraz) announced the decrease in charges following a pricing model review.

The telecommunications regulator engaged a Germany consultancy company Detecon in coming up with the new charges. In a statement, Potraz said the prices were being reviewed to meet changing consumer patterns from being voice-centric to data-centric.

“Accordingly, the Authority hereby notifies the public of the following outcomes of the 2017 Long Run Incremental Costing (LRIC) exercise which shall apply with effect from July 1 2018.

“The outcome of the bundle mobile data threshold be reduced from the current average of 12,5 cent per megabyte to five cents per megabyte exclusive of all taxes. This applies to internet/data that is used outside the WhatsApp, Facebook, and Twitter bundles among others,” reads the statement.

The downward review of internet charges confirms Government’s position that it will not curtail internet usage ahead of the country’s elections.

Information Communication Technology and Cyber Security Minister Supa Mandiwanzira recently told the media that his Ministry was working hard to ensure that internet was accessible to every Zimbabwean.Potraz said it has also reduced Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) charges to promote e-payments.

The regulatory authority said reduction of USSD charges should cascade to ordinary citizens who have turned to plastic money due to cash shortages in the country.Finance and Economic Planning Minister Cde Patrick Chinamasa recently said the country’s plastic money transactions have increased to 96 percent.

“The USSD charges threshold shall be reduced from the current 12, 5 cents per session to five cents per session exclusive of all taxes. This is meant to address the high transactions of e-payments and increase financial inclusion to ensure that this reduction benefits the transacting public,” reads Potraz statement.

“The Authority has engaged the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe so that the central bank engages financial service providers.”

It said the national interconnection rate shall be reduced from the current four cents per minute to two cents per minute exclusive of all the taxes.

Potraz said it is yet to review charges for mobile voice and SMS communications.

“Fixed voice charges shall be left to market forces subject to the regulatory approval. Internet/data for Internet Access Providers shall be left to market forces subject to the regulatory approval,” reads the Potraz statement.—@nqotshili