Telecommunication Companies under government radar

Government has indicated that telecommunication services in the country are expensive and must be reduced for the benefit of the people.

A recent snap survey conducted by The Daily Times has revealed that Malawians believe that interventions made by telecommunication companies have not improved the situation as regards internet costs and other telecommunication service charges.

Peter Mseteka based in Chimaliro, Mzuzu argued that there has been no change in data charges and civil society must help to amplify the voice of the people on telecommunication charges.

Lilongwe based, Glory Masina, concurs with Mseteka adding that recently internet has become slow despite continued vanishing of data bundles.

Minister of Information, Gospel Kazako, said telecommunication companies make huge profits up to 600 percent and their pricing structure must be reviewed.

“We are paying attention to complaints about depletion rate. Depletion rate is about billing per second or per minute. They need to assure us it is the same as in other countries meanwhile, we are of the view that data is extremely expensive and our people ‘for a long’ have been abused and taken advantage of,” Kazako said.