The Zambian telecoms market is primarily shared between Airtel, MTN, Z-Mobile and ZamTel. These operators share a national customer base of 19.9 million mobile subscribers and 7.13 million internet users at the beginning of 2025, according to DataReportal.
The Zambia ICT Authority (ZICTA) has ordered the country’s telecom operators to improve the quality of services provided to consumers, under threat of sanctions. Several directives were issued to them during a press conference on Tuesday, November 4th.
Telecom operators are urged to invest in increasing capacity and coverage, particularly in rural and underserved areas. They must also equip all their central sites with reliable backup power systems to ensure service continuity in the event of a power outage. To this end, they have been advised to deploy renewable energy technologies such as solar or hybrid systems to improve resilience and reduce disruptions.
For example, the regulator gave infrastructure operators Infratel and IHS a strict deadline of 21 days to present concrete and dated measures to ensure that all communication towers are equipped with redundant systems.
“ZICTA will not compromise on quality standards. The Authority will use its regulatory powers against any operator that fails to meet the prescribed service quality thresholds. The time for excuses is over. We are actively monitoring performance and all service providers will be held accountable to the public they serve ,” the telecoms regulator said in a statement published on Facebook.
This statement from the regulator comes amid a context where consumers “continue to experience dropped calls, poor internet connectivity, and unstable network coverage.” The telecoms regulator believes that the poor network quality is affecting citizens’ daily lives, hindering productivity, and eroding public confidence in the digital transformation.
The ZICTA had already issued several warnings to operators in 2025. In February, it fined Airtel Zambia 4 million kwacha (US$180,000) in compensation to its customers for recurring disruptions to its network. In June, the operator had to compensate its customers with 5.2 million kwacha, pay an additional fine of 828,000 kwacha, and issue a public apology. In March, MTN Zambia was also forced to pay 800,000 kwacha in compensation for the unavailability of its services.
It should be noted that the regulator did not specify the coercive actions planned against operators. However, the 2009 ICT law states that any person who fails to comply with minimum service quality standards “is liable, if convicted, to a fine of four million penalty units, as well as four hundred thousand penalty units for each day the violation continues.”
Source: https://extensia.tech/zambia-telecom-operators-urged-to-improve-service-quality/
