Global System for Mobile - AIRTEL Zambia is on the brink of crossing the landmark of 1,000 Global System for Mobile (GSM) sites, four million customers, connecting 1,000 isolated and unserved areas and 25,000 selling points countrywide. Airtel Managing Director Fayaz King said the last 12 months of connecting had seen the company deploy fully connected GSM sites in areas previously isolated.

Mr King said during the media tour of the Network Operating Centre (NOC) site in Lusaka on Monday that when the Zambian Government's Statutory Instrument number 23 of 2011 triggered a rise in number of pay phones.

"Airtel definitely remains by far the biggest ICT contributor to the regulatory and statutory fees in the period between 1996 to 2010 and over K2.5 trillion in various regulatory and statutory fees and over K408 billion being regulatory fees to Zambia Information Communication and Technology Authority (ZICTA),"Mr King said.

He also said that his company had in the last 90 days released over 3,000 pay phones adding that the company was expected to roll out over 20,000 Airtel payphones across the country.

Mr King said Airtel has made positive strides in the telecommunications sector and attributed to the reduction in the costs of doing business thus creating access to services in previously isolated communities.

Mr King also added that Ariel's presence in Zambia has contributed significantly to job creation and entrepreneurship. He said his company was complementing the Sixth National Development Plan (SNDP) objective to increase efficiency in Information and Communication Technology (ICT). Airtel intends to stay ahead of the SNDP's ICT vision.

Mr King said the company's aim was to bridge the digital divide in over 100 isolated and unserved rural areas consequently contributing to social-economic development in the country.

He said that as stated in the SNDP the growth of ICT was a precursor to wealth creation and attainment of a well informed and knowledgeable society.

Mr King reiterated the company's commitment in ensuring that it provided the best service to its client.

Kennedy Mupeseni

Times of Zambia/21/09/2011