rivatisation
of the Lesotho Telecommunications
Corporation has opened the way for investment programmes aimed at modernising
and expanding the network.
Work on improving the system has been under way since November 2000
when the government sold a controlling 70 per cent stake in the corporation
to Mountain Kingdom Communications – a consortium formed by Telkom
Mauritius, Econet, Wireless International of Zimbabwe and Eskom Enterprises
of South Africa.
The new company operates under the terms of the Lesotho Telecomm-unications
Authority Act, which also provided for a regulatory agency to oversee
the sector.
The consortium, which has been given a five-year exclusive contract
for operating fixed-line, satellite and internet services,.has also
been granted a licence to operate a second cellular network in Lesotho.
This will be in competition with the existing service provided by VCL;
a group led by South Africa-based Vodacom, a subsidiary of Vodafone
of the UK. Construction of the new network started last year.
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While Lesotho was quick
off the mark to install digital equipment in the 1980s, the momentum
behind modernisation slowed in subsequent years. At the time of privatisation,
the system was heavily concentrated on urban areas. In some parts of
the country, market penetration was as low as just one per cent of the
potential subscribers.
Taelo Khabele, acting managing
director of the corporation says: “We should try to make telecommunications
accessible to all and restructuring will mainly concentrate on that.
We still need to have more secure ways of providing services. In this
regard we are thinking of wireless local lines.”
A spokesman for the consortium has promised that the country will end
up with “one of the most advanced telecommunications systems in
Africa”.
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