Source document: https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/1696590300099.pdf (Zimbabwe)
POSTAL AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS REGULATORY AUTHORITY OF ZIMBABWE (POTRAZ) ABRIDGED POSTAL & TELECOMMUNICATIONS SECTOR PERFORMANCE REPORT FIRST QUARTER 2023 Disclaimer: This report has been prepared based on data provided by service providers.

The information provided in this quarterly report is subject to alteration in case of any revisions or updates from the service providers.
Whilst the Authority has taken effort to ensure accuracy of the data contained in this report, it is not liable for the inaccuracy of any information.
TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES ..................................................................................................................... 3 LIST OF FIGURES ................................................................................................................... 3 MAJOR HIGHLIGHTS ............................................................................................................. 5 1.
FIXED TELEPHONE SERVICE .......................................................................................... 6 1.1 SUBSCRIPTIONS ........................................................................................................... 6 1.1.1 FIXED VoIP MARKET SHARE .................................................................................. 7 1.2 FIXED VOICE TRAFFIC ............................................................................................... 7 1.2.1 PSTN VOICE TRAFFIC .............................................................................................. 7 2.
MOBILE TELEPHONY ........................................................................................................ 9 2.1 MOBILE SUBSCRIPTIONS ........................................................................................... 9 2.2 MOBILE VOICE TRAFFIC .......................................................................................... 10 2.3 MOBILE INTERNET & DATA .................................................................................... 11 2.4 MOBILE REVENUES, COSTS & INVESTMENT...................................................... 12 2.5 MOBILE TELEPHONY INFRASTRUCTURE ............................................................ 13 3.
DATA & INTERNET SERVICES ...................................................................................... 13 3.1 SUBSCRIPTIONS ......................................................................................................... 13 3.2 INTERNATIONAL INTERNET CONNECTIVITY .................................................... 15 3.2.1 EQUIPPED INTERNATIONAL INTERNET BANDWIDTH CAPACITY ......... 15 3.2.2 USED INTERNATIONAL INTERNET BANDWIDTH CAPACITY .................. 16 3.3 IAP REVENUES, OPERATING COSTS & INVESTMENT ....................................... 17 4.
POSTAL & COURIER ........................................................................................................ 17 4.1 POSTAL & COURIER VOLUMES .............................................................................. 17 4.2 POSTAL DENSITY ....................................................................................................... 18 4.3 POSTAL & COURIER REVENUES, COSTS & INVESTMENT ............................... 19 5.
OUTLOOK .......................................................................................................................... 20 2 LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Fixed Telephone Subscriptions.................................................................................... 6 Table 2: Fixed Voice Traffic (Minutes of Use) ......................................................................... 8 Table 3: Active Mobile Subscriptions ....................................................................................... 9 Table 4: Mobile Telephone Traffic .......................................................................................... 10 Table 5: Mobile Internet & Data .............................................................................................. 11 Table 6: Mobile Operator Revenues, Costs and Investments .................................................. 12 Table 7: Mobile Base Stations ................................................................................................. 13 Table 8: Active Internet & Data Subscriptions ........................................................................ 14 Table 9: Equipped International Incoming Internet Bandwidth Capacity (Mbps) .................. 15 Table 10: Used International Internet Bandwidth Capacity (Mbps) ........................................ 16 Table 11: IAP Revenues, Operating Costs (ZWL) .................................................................. 17 Table 12: Postal and Courier Volumes .................................................................................... 17 Table 13: Postal & Courier Revenues, Costs & Capital Expenditure ..................................... 19 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: Active Fixed Telephone Subscriptions ....................................................................... 6 Figure 2: Market Share of Fixed VoIP Subscriptions ................................................................ 7 Figure 3: PSTN Voice Traffic.................................................................................................... 8 Figure 4: Market Share of Mobile Subscribers .......................................................................... 9 Figure 5: Mobile Voice Traffic Market Share ......................................................................... 11 Figure 6: Market Share of Internet & Data Traffic .................................................................. 12 Figure 7: Market Share of Mobile Base Station Infrastructure................................................ 13 Figure 8: Internet Penetration Rate .......................................................................................... 14 Figure 9: Market Share of Equipped International Internet Bandwidth Capacity ................... 15 Figure 10: Growth in Used International Internet Bandwidth Capacity .................................. 16 Figure 11: Postal & Courier Volumes ..................................................................................... 18 Figure 12: Distribution of Postal & Courier Outlets ................................................................ 18 Figure 13: Postal & Courier Revenues & Operating Costs (ZWL) ......................................... 19 3 LIST OF ACRONYMS 2G………………………….
Second Generation 3G………..............................Third Generation ACPU…................................ Average Cost per User AMPU……………………... Average Margin per User ARPU…................................ Average Revenue per User ADSL……………………….

Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line GB………………………….

Gigabyte LTE………………………… Long Term Evolution MB………………………….

Megabyte TB………………………….. Terabyte Mbps……………………….

Megabits per second VoIP……………………….


Voice Over Internet Protocol 4 MAJOR HIGHLIGHTS The following are the main sector trends for the first quarter of 2023, compared to the fourth quarter of 2022: • Total active fixed telephone lines increased by 0.3% to reach 292,253 in the first quarter of 2023, from 291,324 recorded in the fourth quarter of 2022; As a result, the fixed teledensity increased by 0.01% to record 1.93%, from 1.92% recorded in the previous quarter.
• The total number of active mobile subscriptions declined by 1.7%, to reach 14,051,251, from 14,300,790 recorded in the fourth quarter of 2022.

Hence, the mobile penetration rate declined by 1.6%, to reach 92.6%, from 94.2% recorded in the previous quarter.

• The total number of active Internet and data subscriptions increased by 0.1% to reach 9,920,847, from 9,914,950 recorded in the fourth quarter of 2022.
The Internet penetration rate increased by 0.1% to reach 65.4%, from 65.3% recorded in the previous quarter.

• PSTN fixed voice traffic declined by 5% to record 77.4 million minutes in the first quarter of 2023, from 81.5 million minutes recorded in the fourth quarter of 2022.

• Mobile voice traffic declined by 16% to record 2.5 billion minutes in the first quarter of 2023, from 3 billion minutes recorded in the fourth quarter of 2022.
• Mobile Internet and data traffic increased by 12.3% to record 37,690.4 Terabytes in the first quarter of 2023, from 33,576.4 Terabytes recorded in the fourth quarter of 2022.

• Used Incoming International Internet Bandwidth Capacity increased by 8% to record 294,201Mbps, from 272,430Mbps recorded in the fourth quarter of 2022.

• Total postal and courier volumes increased by 0.9% to record 526,305 items in the first quarter of 2023, from 521,764 items in the fourth quarter of 2022.
• Total mobile operator revenues grew by 34.8% to record ZWL161.1 billion, from ZWL119.5 billion recorded in the previous quarter.

On the other hand, operating costs grew by 25.7% to record ZWL102.8 billion, from ZWL81.7 billion recorded in the fourth quarter of 2022.
• IAP revenues grew by 46.8% to record ZWL80.7 billion, from ZWL55 billion recorded in the fourth quarter of 2022; meanwhile, operating costs for IAPs grew by 54.4% to record ZWL42.4 billion, from ZWL27.4 billion recorded in the previous quarter.
• Total revenue generated by the postal and courier sector increased by 23.4% to record ZWL5.74, from ZWL4.66 billion recorded in the fourth quarter of 2022; operating costs increased by 28% to record ZWL5.45 billion, from ZWL4.26 billion recorded in the fourth quarter of 2022.

5 1.

FIXED TELEPHONE SERVICE 1.1 SUBSCRIPTIONS The total number of active fixed telephone subscriptions increased by 0.3% to reach 292,253 as of 31 March 2023, from 291,324 as of 31 December 2022.
Hence, the fixed teledensity increased by 0.1% to record 1.93% as of 31 March 2023, from 1.92% recorded as of 31 December 2022.

The growth in the traditional PSTN lines and fixed VoIP lines is shown in Table 1 below: Table 1: Fixed Telephone Subscriptions Subscriber Category Q4 2022 PSTN Lines Fixed VoIP Total 250,429 40,895 291,324 Q1 2023 251,292 40,961 292,253 % Growth 0.3% 0.2% 0.3% As shown above, VoIP and PSTN active subscriptions recorded growth in the quarter under review.
Active Fixed Telephone Subscriptions, and subsequently the fixed teledensity, have been gradually increasing, however, in small magnitudes as shown in Figure 1 below: Figure 1: Active Fixed Telephone Subscriptions 350,000 300,000 250,000 200,000 150,000 100,000 s n o i t p i r c s b u S e v i t c A 278,093 282,843 290,810 291,324 1.92% 1.92% 1.93% 1.94% 292,253 1.92% 243,123 246,722 250,027 250,429 251,292 1.86% 1.83% 50,000 34,970 36,121 40,783 40,895 40,961 - Q1 2022 Q2 2022 Q3 2022 Q4 2022 Q1 2023 Fixed VoIP PSTN Total Teledensity y t i s n e d e e T l 1.90% 1.88% 1.86% 1.84% 1.82% 1.80% 1.78% 6 Fixed VoIP uptake, particularly by corporates, is expected to continue growing as it is a low- cost alternative to the traditional telephone system.
1.1.1 FIXED VoIP MARKET SHARE The market share of fixed VoIP subscriptions in the first quarter of 2023 is shown in Figure 2 below: Figure 2: Market Share of Fixed VoIP Subscriptions As shown above, Africom and Telecontract lost market share by 0.2% and 0.1% respectively.

On the other hand, Liquid`s market share increased by 0.3%.

TelOne and Dandemutande`s market share remained unchanged.
1.2 FIXED VOICE TRAFFIC 1.2.1 PSTN VOICE TRAFFIC Total voice traffic by the Public Switched Telephone Network Operator declined by 5% to record 77.4 million minutes in the first quarter of 2023, from 81.5 million minutes recorded in the fourth quarter of 2022.
The quarterly variation in fixed voice traffic per category is shown in table 2 below: 7 Table 2: Fixed Voice Traffic (Minutes of Use) Traffic category Q4 2022 Q1 2023 Variance (%) Net on Net Outgoing to Mobile Incoming from Mobile Incoming from IAPs Outgoing to IAPs Total National Voice Traffic International Incoming International Outgoing Total traffic 7,657,199 64,481,720 5,748,441 614,728 688,900 79,190,988 1,088,332 1,243,534 81,522,854 7,730,660 62,189,262 4,754,132 657,029 698,363 76,029,446 744,184 643,578 77,417,208 1.0% -3.6% -17.3% 6.9% 1.4% -4.0% -31.6% -48.2% -5.0% International voice traffic recorded significant decline in the quarter under review, with international outgoing and international incoming traffic recording a decline of 48.2% and 31.6% respectively.
National fixed voice traffic also recorded a significant decline of 4%, emanating from the 3.6% decline in fixed to mobile traffic.
The decline in fixed voice traffic is a recurring phenomenon as shown in Figure 3 below: Figure 3: PSTN Voice Traffic s e t u n M n i i c i f f a r T 91,982,560 95,000,000 90,000,000 85,000,000 80,000,000 75,000,000 70,000,000 83,733,930 84,609,508 81,522,854 77,417,208 The decline in fixed voice traffic in the quarter under review may be attributable to the 50% increase in tariffs in February 2023.
Substitution of traditional voice with Over-the-Top VoIP also plays a significant factor.

The continuous decline can be attributed to deteriorating quality of service that has seen some places going for days without network.

8 2.

MOBILE TELEPHONY 2.1 MOBILE SUBSCRIPTIONS The total number of active mobile telephone subscriptions declined 1.7% to reach 14,051,251 as of 31 March 2023, from 14,300,790, recorded as of 31 December 2022.
As a result, the mobile penetration rate declined by 1.6% to reach 92.6% as of 31 March 2023, from 94.2% recorded as of 31 December 2022.
The quarterly variation in mobile subscriptions per operator is shown in the table below: Table 3: Active Mobile Subscriptions Traffic category Q4 2022 Q1 2023 Variance (%) Econet NetOne Telecel Total Econet was the only mobile operator to register growth in active subscriptions, however, the 9,996,255 3,747,201 307,795 14,051,251 9,988,105 3,922,734 389,951 14,300,790 0.1% -4.5% -21.1% -1.7% growth was a marginal 0.1%.
Concerningly, Telecel and NetOne`s active subscriptions have been consistently declining over the past five consecutive quarters.

A quarterly comparison of the market share of active mobile subscriptions is shown in Figure 4 below: Figure 4: Market Share of Mobile Subscribers NetOne and Telecel lost subscriber market share by 0.7% and 0.5% respectively, in line with the decline in their active subscriptions.

Conversely, Econet gained subscriber market share by 1.2% in the first quarter of 2023.
9 2.2 MOBILE VOICE TRAFFIC Mobile voice traffic declined by 16% to record 2.5 billion minutes in the first quarter of 2023, from 3 billion minutes recorded in the fourth quarter of 2022.
The disaggregation of mobile telephony traffic for the quarter under review is shown in the table below: Table 4: Mobile Telephone Traffic Traffic category Q4 2022 Q1 2023 Variance (%) (In Minutes) (In Minutes) Net on Net 2,303,931,488 1,870,405,840 -18.8% Mobile to Fixed 4,653,686 4,871,750 Incoming from Fixed 64,495,891 62,211,015 Mobile to Other Mobile 570,845,417 525,686,123 Outgoing to IAPs 2,127,552 2,086,177 Incoming from IAPs 25,843,235 27,582,513 TOTAL NATIONAL 2,971,897,269 2,492,843,418 International Incoming 24,126,708 21,603,398 International Outgoing 5,948,314 6,179,649 Inbound Roaming Outbound Roaming 813,786 152,220 507,056 140,552 Total 3,002,938,296 2,521,274,073 4.7% -3.5% -7.9% -1.9% 6.7% -16.1% -10.5% 3.9% -37.7% -7.7% -16.0% Net-on-Net traffic has been consistently declining and the trend continued into the first quarter of 2023.
As with fixed voice traffic, the decline in mobile voice traffic may be attributable to the 50% increase in tariffs in February 2023.

Substitution of traditional voice with Over-the- Top VoIP also plays a significant factor.

The continuous decline may also be attributable to the deteriorating quality of service due to the loadshedding resulting in lower call-success ratios.
The quarterly variation in the market share of mobile voice traffic is shown below: 10 Figure 5: Mobile Voice Traffic Market Share As shown above, Econet and Telecel lost voice market share by 2.6% and 0.2% respectively.

On the other hand, NetOne gained voice traffic market share by 2.8%.

2.3 MOBILE INTERNET & DATA Mobile Internet and data traffic increased by 12.3% to record 37,690.4 Terabytes in the first quarter of 2023, from 33,576.4 Terabytes recorded in the fourth quarter of 2022.
A quarterly comparison of mobile Internet and data traffic is shown in Table 5 below: Table 5: Mobile Internet & Data Q4 2022 (MB) Q1 2023 Variance (%) (MB) Total 33,576,444,585 37,690,377,935 12.3% A quarterly comparison of the mobile Internet and data traffic market share is shown in Figure 6 below.

11 Figure 6: Market Share of Internet & Data Traffic Econet`s market share of Internet and data declined by 7.2%, which was gained by NetOne.

Telecel`s market share remained unchanged.
2.4 MOBILE REVENUES, COSTS & INVESTMENT The growth in mobile revenues, operating costs and capital expenditure in the first quarter of 2022 is shown in Table 6 below: Table 6: Mobile Operator Revenues, Costs and Investments Q4 2022 (ZWL) Q1 2023 (ZWL) Revenue 119,488,976,228 161,071,914,936 Operating Costs 81,732,749,336 102,768,465,340 Capital Expenditure 12,765,070,695 14,219,224,107 Variance (%) 34.8% 25.7% 11.4% As shown in the tabular exposition above, aggregate operating costs continued to grow by a margin that surpasses growth in aggregate revenue.
This indicates that mobile operator operating costs are fast closing in on revenue, which indicates diminishing operator profits.

National switching continued to influence capital expenditure as evidenced by 11.4% growth across mobile operators in the first quarter of 2023.

12 2.5 MOBILE TELEPHONY INFRASTRUCTURE A total of 86 new base stations were deployed in the first quarter of 2023, as compared to 175 base stations deployed in the fourth quarter of 2022.
The deployments are disaggregated by technology as shown in Table 7 below: Table 7: Mobile Base Stations 2G 3G LTE 5G Q4 Q1 Net Q4 Q1 Net Q4 Q1 Net Q4 Q1 Net 2022 2023 Addition 2022 2023 Addition 2022 2023 Addition 2022 2023 Addition Total 5,019 5,021 2 3,271 3,309 38 1,673 1,719 46 22 22 - LTE has the highest number of deployments, followed by 3G.

This shows that the investment thrust of mobile network operators is in broadband networks.
The market shares of mobile base stations across all technologies for the fourth quarter are shown in Figure 7 below: Figure 7: Market Share of Mobile Base Station Infrastructure Currently, Econet is the only mobile network operator with 5G infrastructure, hence the 100% market share.

Telecel is lagging in the deployment of Next Generation Networks, with only 1% market share of LTE deployments.

3.
3.

DATA & INTERNET SERVICES 3.1 SUBSCRIPTIONS The total number of active Internet subscriptions increased by 0.1% to reach 9,920,847 as of 31 March 2023, from 9,914,950 recorded as of 31 December 2022.
The growth in active data and Internet subscriptions by technology is shown in Table 8 below: 13 Table 8: Active Internet & Data Subscriptions Technology 3G/HSDPA/LTE Leased Lines DSL WiMAX CDMA VSAT Q4 2022 9,720,328 2,667 104,888 7,821 5767 5,518 Active Fibre Subscriptions 67,961 Q1 2023 Variance (%) 9,726,839 2,702 104,982 7,796 4,727 6,064 67,737 0.1% 1.3% 0.1% -0.3% -18.0% 9.9% -0.3% 0.1% Total 9,914,950 9,920,847 As shown above, the overall growth in total active Internet and data subscriptions was marginal, as compared to previous quarters.
VSAT continued to record the biggest growth in subscriptions.

This may be attributable to new deployments under the Community Networks Project funded by the Universal Services Fund.
The 0.1% growth in active Internet subscriptions resulted in the Internet penetration rate increasing by 0.1%, to reach 65.4% as of 31 March 2023, from 65.3% as of 31 December 2022 as shown below: Figure 8: Internet Penetration Rate 65.3% 65.4% 62.8% 60.6% 60.9% 68.0% 66.0% 64.0% 62.0% 60.0% 58.0% 56.0% E T A R N O I T A R T E N E P T E N R E T N I 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 The Internet penetration is expected to continue increasing, however at lower margins than experienced in earlier years when deployment and adoption of Internet and data was still nascent.
14 3.2 INTERNATIONAL INTERNET CONNECTIVITY 3.2.1 EQUIPPED INTERNATIONAL INTERNET BANDWIDTH CAPACITY The equipped international Internet bandwidth capacity was 556,200Mbps as of 31 March 2023.

This represents a 0.5% increase from 553,700Mbps recorded as of 31 December 2022.
Equipped capacity per provider is shown in Table 9 below: Table 9: Equipped International Incoming Internet Bandwidth Capacity (Mbps) Liquid TelOne Powertel Dandemutande Total Q4 2022 400,000 142,500 5,000 6,200 553,700 Q1 2023 400,000 145,000 5,000 6,200 556,200 Variance (%) 0.0% 1.8% 0.0% 0.0% 0.5% TelOne was the only Internet Access Provider to increase their equipped international Internet bandwidth capacity in the quarter under review.
A quarterly comparison of the market share of equipped international Internet bandwidth capacity is shown in Figure 9 below: Figure 9: Market Share of Equipped International Internet Bandwidth Capacity There has not been any major change in the market share of equipped capacity over the years, with Liquid continuing to lead the market.

In the quarter under review Liquid lost 0.4% in 15 market share, which was gained by TelOne, in line with their expansion.
On the other hand, the market shares of Dandemutande and Powertel remained unchanged.
3.2.2 USED INTERNATIONAL INTERNET BANDWIDTH CAPACITY Used international incoming bandwidth capacity also increased in the first quarter of 2023 as shown in Table 10 below: Table 10: Used International Internet Bandwidth Capacity (Mbps) Incoming Outgoing Q4 2022 272,430 89,790 Q1 2023 Variance (%) 294,201 92,039 8% 2.5% Used incoming international bandwidth capacity continued to increase by a greater margin than used outgoing international Internet bandwidth capacity.
This signifies increased consumption of foreign content online, as compared to local content.
The growth in used international bandwidth capacity is shown in Figure 10 below: Figure 10: Growth in Used International Internet Bandwidth Capacity 195,158 219,232 221,181 230,677 272,430 294,201 87,924 91,978 88,902 89,790 92,039 54,464 350,000 300,000 250,000 200,000 150,000 100,000 50,000 - s p b M International Incoming International Outgoing The growth in used international incoming bandwidth capacity has always been higher than the growth in used international outgoing bandwidth capacity, as shown above.
There is need to promote the development of local online content, to help boost adoption and use of the Internet.
16 3.3 IAP REVENUES, OPERATING COSTS & INVESTMENT The growth in IAP revenue, operating costs, and capital expenditure in the first quarter of 2023 is shown in table 11 below: Table 11: IAP Revenues, Operating Costs (ZWL) Q4 2022 Q1 2023 Variance (%) Revenue 54,984,037,231 80,691,196,167 Operating Costs 27,432,288,214 42,367,723,845 Capital Expenditure 3,240,268,420 3,951,158,125 46.8% 54.4% 21.9% The growth in IAP operating costs was higher than the growth in revenues, signifying reduced viability in the quarter under review.
Bandwidth costs, depreciation, administration, and staff costs continued to constitute the bulk of IAP operating expenses.

4.
POSTAL & COURIER 4.1 POSTAL & COURIER VOLUMES An overall 0.9% increase in postal and courier volumes was recorded in the first quarter of 2023, as shown in Table 12 below: Table 12: Postal and Courier Volumes Q4 2022 Q1 2023 % Growth Domestic postal letters Domestic courier International incoming courier International outgoing courier Total Postal & Courier 239,125 125,948 133,929 22,762 521,764 240,194 129,751 132,905 23,455 526,305 0.4% 3.0% -0.8% 3.0% 0.9% The growth, however small, is positive as postal and courier volumes recorded a significant decrease in the fourth quarter of 2022, compared to the third quarter of 2022 as shown below: 17 Figure 11: Postal & Courier Volumes Digital transformation is impacting postal and courier demand and supply.
Hence, Postal and courier operators must improve the delivery experience, while pivoting to new more efficient business models.

4.2 POSTAL DENSITY The total number of operational postal and courier outlets by the licensed operators as of 31 March 2023 was 500, down from 504 operational outlets as of 31 December 2022.
The distribution of postal and courier outlets is shown in Figure 12 below: Figure 12: Distribution of Postal & Courier Outlets 268 268 500 504 Total Zimpost FedEx DHL Unifreight Skynet UPS Overnight 87 90 59 60 36 36 32 32 10 10 8 8 0 100 200 Q1 2023 300 Q4 2022 400 500 600 18 The decline emanated from DHL and FedEx, who reduced their footprint by 1 and 3 outlets, respectively.
As a result, the postal and courier density increased by 0.8% to reach 30,358, from 30,117 per postal establishment as of 31 December 2022.

This implies reduced access as the proportion of people per postal/courier outlet has increased.
4.3 POSTAL & COURIER REVENUES, COSTS & INVESTMENT Total revenue, operating costs and capital expenditure by the postal and courier sector is shown in Table 13 below: Table 13: Postal & Courier Revenues, Costs & Capital Expenditure Q4 2022 Q1 2023 % Growth Revenues 4,655,191,940 5,744,506,854 Operating Costs 4,259,967,389 5,454,675,258 Capital Expenditure 115,471,525 133,485,083 23.4% 28.0% 15.6% As with other subsectors, the growth in operating costs was higher than the growth in revenue.
Postal and courier operators have not been immune to the trend of rising operating costs as shown below: Figure 13: Postal & Courier Revenues & Operating Costs (ZWL) $6,000,000,000 $5,000,000,000 $4,000,000,000 $3,000,000,000 $2,000,000,000 $1,000,000,000 $- Revenue Q1 2022 Q3 2022 $1,082,871,915 $2,582,144,835 $3,856,726,785 $4,655,191,940 $5,744,506,854 Q2 2022 Q4 2022 Q1 2023 Operating Costs $895,267,209 $2,079,031,556 $2,921,591,549 $4,259,967,389 $5,454,675,258 19 The spike in operating costs and revenues is attributable to the inflationary operating environment.
5.

OUTLOOK The economic environment directly affects the performance of the postal and telecommunication sector.

The inflationary environment, unavailability of credit, reduced consumer spending, inadequate foreign currency amongst other challenges continued to beset the sector.

The situation has been aggravated by prolonged load-shedding, impacting overall quality of service, and raising the cost-of-service provision.

Inadequate foreign currency has affected network expansion and maintenance efforts.
Unlike other services that may have alternative local supply, the provision of telecommunication relies heavily on imports mainly equipment, software as well as bandwidth.

The Sector should be prioritized in terms of government expenditure, resource mobilisation, foreign currency allocation amongst other issues, to fully realise its role as a key economic enabler.

Never-the-less, there is still great scope for the sector and opportunities are awash.
We envisage an emerging set of opportunities presented by the converged licensing framework as evidenced by an increase in applications for Mobile Virtual Network licences, which will boost competition in the sector.

With ever-expanding options for high-quality communication and Internet services from LTE, Fibre, satellite amongst others, consumers will enjoy more enhanced service flexibility in purchasing and consuming services in the near future.
Digital transformation also presents significant opportunity for postal and courier operators in terms of improving service delivery, while pivoting to new more efficient business models.

While the widespread adoption of broadband offers several benefits, it also creates new security concerns and challenges.

Data privacy and security are a top priority in the year ahead.
According to the POTRAZ 2022 Consumer Satisfaction Survey, consumers are wary about the unauthorized use of sensitive data, and hence expect increased control over their personal data.

This calls for more regulatory measures to be put in place and the establishment of the Data Protection Authority will go a long way in creating a conducive environment for digital safety and confidence.
To this end, the Authority will be seized with implementing the Cyber and 20 Data Protection Act, which was promulgated in 2021, as it takes on its new role as the Data Protection Authority.

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