Tanzania is expected to complete its migration from analogue to digital TV broadcasting by June 2015. ICT Minister, Makame Mbarawa, told the ITU 2014 Plenipotentiary Conference that digital broadcasting covered 70 percent of the country. Mbarawa was also insistent that the government was expecting to cover the whole country well before the set deadline.
According to the Daily News, Mbarawa stated that as for national and regional communications connectivity, Tanzania had recorded significant progress. He said the government had already invested in the deployment of 7,560 kilometres of broadband fibre optic cable, which, according Mbarawa, now connects every region in the country.
Mbarawa added that the broadband optic fibre cable network also connects land-locked countries through multiple connections to the border points of Rwanda, Uganda, Zambia, Malawi, Kenya, and Burundi. In addition, Seychelles is also connected by fibre optic underwater cable from Tanzania, he said.
Mbarawa also revealed that: “ICT policy, legal and converged licensing framework has paid great dividends, and teledensity there is 64 percent. The number of mobile phone subscriptions has increased from 21.2 million in 2010 to over 28.3 million today. Internet users have increased from 5.1 million in 2010 to over 9.6 million today. Currently, 57 percent of the population above 16 years of age have access to financial services compared with 27 percent in 2009, thanks to mobile phone money services.”
Staff Writer
