THE fate of more than 1 000 Telecel Zimbabwe employees now hangs in the balance after the Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (Potraz) cancelled the company’s licence.
Potraz on Wednesday cancelled the Telecel licence, giving subscribers 30 days to find alternative networks, while there has been no word on the fate of the workers.
Telecel has 60 days to appeal the revocation of its licence, and if this fails, they have to decommission their equipment within two months.
In a statement Potraz said Telecel could continue providing services for its subscribers for 30 days as it winds up operations.
“In order to facilitate the smooth switch of the Telecel Zimbabwe network as well as ensuring that disruption is minimized, POTRAZ concurrently issued a special licence to Telecel to continue providing telecommunications services for a period of 30 days,” the authority said.
“During this period, it is expected that Telecel Zimbabwe subscribers switch to alternative networks and those with credits on the Telecash Mobile money platform would make good their position.
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“In terms of Section 96 of the Postal and Telecommunications Act, Telecel Zimbabwe may appeal to the Minister of ICT, Postal and Courier Services should they be aggrieved by the decision of the authority on this matter.”
Telecel and the government have been at loggerheads for a while, with the telecommunications company being accused of failing to meet indigenisation regulations.
The government recently cancelled an agreement with the firm, which allowed it to operate without paying $137,5 million to renew its operating licence.
The company is yet to issue a response.
More to follow…