VZCZCXRO0062
RR RUEHBZ RUEHDU RUEHJO RUEHMR RUEHRN
DE RUEHLS #0805/01 3210652
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 170652Z NOV 09
FM AMEMBASSY LUSAKA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 7436
INFO RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AF DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY COLLECTIVE
RUEHLMC/MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE CORP 0191
RHMFISS/HQ USAFRICOM STUTTGART GE
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 LUSAKA 000805 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
PASS TO COMMERCE FOR 4510/ITA/IEP/ANESA/OA AND STATE FOR 
AF/S JNAMDE AND EEB/CBA DWINSTEAD 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EINV ECON ECPS KCOR BTIO ZA
SUBJECT: DIALING UP ZAMBIA'S TELECOMMUNICATIONS SECTOR 
 
REF: A. LUSAKA 705 
     ¶B. LUSAKA 259 
     ¶C. LUSAKA 275 
     ¶D. LUSAKA 367 
     ¶E. LUSAKA 638 
 
LUSAKA 00000805  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
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SUMMARY 
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¶1.  (U) Zambia's under-developed telecommunications sector 
will undergo fundamental change in 2010.  The Information and 
Communications Technology (ITC) Act enacted into law August 
26, 2009, endowed the Zambia Information and Communication 
Technology Authority with broad regulatory powers and 
mandated that it develop a unified telecommunications 
licensing regime, penalize service providers for using 
unapproved tariffs, and implement an Internet "Universal 
Access Project."  Although the the Zambian government plans 
to privatize up to 75 percent of state-run Zambia 
Telecommunications Company (ZAMTEL) by June 2010, allegations 
of corruption raised concerns as to whether privatization 
will meet its intended goal.  With the domestic cellular 
phone penetration rate at 32 percent and fixed-line telephony 
and Internet at less than one percent, the sector has 
considerable room for growth.  Although the ICT Act reform 
and ZAMTEL's privatization could contribute to Zambia's 
economic growth and development, many challenges, including 
high infrastructure costs, interconnectivity issues, ZAMTEL's 
continued control of the fixed-line and cellular 
International Gateway, and state-run Zambia Electricity 
Supply Corporation's dominance over Zambia's fiber optic 
cable network, remain.  END SUMMARY. 
 
----------------------------------- 
TELECOM'S LAY OF THE LAND...AND SKY 
----------------------------------- 
 
¶2.  (SBU) With cellular phone penetration rate at 32 percent 
and fixed-line telephony and Internet penetration rates at 
less than one percent, Zambia's telecommunications sector has 
considerable room for growth.  Low penetration rates have 
been exacerbated by monopolistic conditions in which few 
players dominate most telecommunications services.  State-run 
Zambia Telecommunications Company, Ltd. (ZAMTEL) monopolizes 
fixed-line telephony.  Kuwait-based Zain, South African-based 
MTN, and ZAMTEL subsidiary CELL Z subsidiary are the 
country's exclusive cellular service providers.  (NOTE: 
Minister of Communications and Transport Geoffrey Lungwangwa 
told Ambassador in early 2009 the GRZ had decided not to 
issue additional cellular licenses beyond the existing three. 
 END NOTE.)  Cellular and fixed-line service providers 
connect use ZAMTEL's International Gateway (IGW) exclusively 
to access global networks.  State-run utility Zambia 
Electricity Supply Corporation, Ltd. (ZESCO) dominates data 
communications by controlling most of Zambia's fiber optic 
networks with limited Internet access via Namibia.  ZAMTEL's 
own nascent fiber optic network connects to the Internet via 
microwave connection in Botswana; however, usage is limited. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) ZAMTEL is the country's sole provider of fixed-line 
commercial and residential voice communications with 
estimated annual revenues of over USD 100 million.  Its CELL 
Z mobile phone subsidiary utilizes 2.5G GSM wireless 
networks.  ZAMTEL also owns the Mwembeshi Satellite Earth 
Station (Zambia's IGW) and a Lusaka-based fiber optic network 
dubbed the "Metropolitan Project."  The USD 48 million 
project led to cost overruns that nearly bankrupted the 
company and ultimately triggered its privatization.  ZAMTEL 
plans to link its fiber optic network with Tanzania's East 
African Submarine Cable System (EASSy) and improve network 
utilization; however, these plans are on hold until the 
company has sufficient funding.  ZAMTEL is an EASSy 
shareholder; it is also considering a link to the recently 
(July 2009) inaugurated SEACOM cable in Tanzania. 
 
¶4.  (U) ZESCO has a nationwide fiber optic network known as 
"FibreCom Broadband" capable of carrying data communications. 
 ZESCO laid 1,700 kilometers of fiber optic cable in 2008-09 
linking major urban areas at a cost of USD 11 million. 
During a second phase set to begin next year, ZESCO plans to 
lay an additional 5,000 kilometers of the cable and connect 
FibreCom to the Internet backbone via Botswana and DR Congo. 
Although the FibreCom network's primary function is to 
connect ZESCO offices nationwide, ZESCO leases excess 
capacity to ZAMTEL, Copperbelt Energy Corporation PLC, 
 
LUSAKA 00000805  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
Zambia's nine domestic Internet service providers -- 
including AfriConnect, Zamnet, and CopperNet -- and cellular 
service providers.  It also provides network services to 
Zambian government (GRZ) agencies such as the Zambia Revenue 
Authority and Road Transport and Safety Agency. 
 
¶5.  (U) The Zambia Information and Communication Technology 
Authority (ZICTA) licenses and regulates Zambia's 
telecommunications sector, including fiber optic networks, 
satellite networks, cellular networks, fixed-line 
communications, Internet and data services, television 
services, andradio spectrum.  ZICTA Acting CEO Patrick 
Mutimushi told EconOff October 29 that the agency has high 
hopes for nationwide public high-speed Internet access.  He 
said that ZICTA plans to accelerate Internet penetration 
through its "Universal Access Project" by building a 
nationwide network of community centers (telecenters) linked 
to ZESCO's and ZAMTEL's fiber optic networks. 
 
----------------------------------- 
TELECOM REFORM PROMISES BIG CHANGES 
----------------------------------- 
 
¶6.  (U) The Information and Communications Technology (ICT) 
Act passed into law August 26, 2009, enacted several key 
sector reforms.  Perhaps most interesting for investors, the 
law mandates that ZICTA (formerly the Communications 
Authority of Zambia) develop a unified licensing regime for 
all telecommunications services.  It also endowed ZICTA with 
broad regulatory powers, including the authority to regulate 
IGW fees and tariffs.  Although it stops short of opening up 
the IGW to competition, the law prevents ZAMTEL from 
leveraging its IGW monopoly to overcharge customers, and it 
empowers ZICTA to penalize service providers for using 
unapproved tariffs.  The law did not grant ZICTA the 
authority to regulate ZESCO's network, allowing ZESCO to 
continue setting rates for service providers that use 
FibreCom.  The law further established the ZICTA's 
yet-to-be-funded "Universal Access Project." 
 
¶7.  (U) Minister of Communications and Transport Lungwangwa 
stated that the ICT Act will help Zambia attract foreign 
telecommunications investment by eliminating bureaucracy and 
reducing costs.  He also affirmed that the law will protect 
service providers and consumers by improving transparency and 
accountability.  He expressed concern in September over the 
slow pace of transformation in Zambia's Internet and mobile 
communications sectors but was optimistic that ZAMTEL's 
privatization would lead to increased competition -- by 
injecting private investment into the sector -- and reduced 
costs (ref A). ZICTA's Mutimushi was optimistic that sector 
reforms would eventually lead to better services, lower fees, 
and higher penetration rates. 
 
-------------------------------------- 
ZAMTEL PRIVATIZING...BUT WHO'S BUYING? 
-------------------------------------- 
 
¶8.  (U) The GRZ will sell up to 75 percent of ZAMTEL next 
year to private investors to keep it financially solvent. 
The Ministry of Communications and Transport tasked the 
Zambia Development Agency (ZDA) with overseeing the 
privatization and signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) 
with Caymen Islands-based firm RP Capital Advisors, Ltd. to 
evaluate ZAMTEL's assets and execute its sale (see para. 10 
regarding Minister Dora Siliya's illegal contract award to RP 
Capital). 
 
¶9.  (U) The ZDA opened the bidding process to established 
telecommunications firms in August and announced eight 
finalists October 21, including Russia-based Altimo 
Holdings/Vimpelcom; Indian telecoms Bharat Sanchar Nigam 
Limited (BSNL) and Majanagar Telephone Nigam; Libya's LAP 
Greencom; Portugal Telecom; South Africa's Telkom SA; Egypt's 
Orascom Telecom Holdings; and Angola's UNITEL.  The GRZ 
invited the finalists to participate in a due diligence 
process November 2 - December 23 in which they may bid on 
between 51 and 75 percent ownership in ZAMTEL.  The ZDA will 
announce the winning bidder and conclude the sale by June 
¶2010. 
 
---------------------------------------- 
PRIVATIZATION RAISES CORRUPTION CONCERNS 
---------------------------------------- 
 
¶10.  (SBU) Allegations of nepotism and corruption involving 
 
LUSAKA 00000805  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
the ZAMTEL sale raised questions as to whether privatization 
will truly achieve efficiencies.  Some opposition leaders 
charged the government with nepotism for contracting with RP 
Capital -- a firm connected to President Rupiah Banda's son 
Henry -- to broker the sale.  Critics also accused the GRZ of 
paying RP Capital its fee -- USD 2 million -- for brokering 
the deal before its completion. Then-Minister of 
Communications and Transport Dora Siliya resigned after a 
tribunal found Siliya guilty of breaching the constitution 
for unilaterally awarding the contract to RP Capital without 
due diligence.  After the Lusaka High Court overturned the 
tribunal's decision June 16, President Banda appointed her 
Minister of Education (refs B-E). 
 
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COMMENT 
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¶11.  (SBU) A unified licensing regime, ZAMTEL's 
privatization, and ZICTA's regulation of Zambia's 
International Gateways and telecom tariffs are welcome 
developments.  GRZ efforts to construct a nationwide fiber 
optic network with improved links to the outside world and 
widely accessible to the public would give Zambia the 
technology infrastructure it needs for economic growth and 
development.  Unfortunately, many challenges, including the 
high cost of completing its nationwide fiber optic network, 
extending it the "last mile" to businesses and consumers, and 
connecting it with global networks, remain.  In addition, 
ZAMTEL's continued monopoly over Zambia's fixed-line and 
cellular IGW and ZESCO's dominance over its nationwide fiber 
optic cable network is unlikely to bring down rates 
substantially.  END COMMENT. 
BOOTH