 Insight
Zambia’s readiness for the information society
The issues of good governance cannot be discussed in isolation but together with other factors that help in the achievement of a society that promotes democratic principles.
The advent of the Information Society characterised by the prevalence of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) are impacting every facet of people’s daily lives. One clear upshot of this is that knowledge forms a critical component of production and development. The deployment of innovative mix of both old and new telecommunication regimes offer opportunities for appropriate strategies to accelerate Africa’s development.
Zambia’s report to the third meeting of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa Committee on Development Information shows the country readiness for the Information Society.
E-governance is a tool for governments to use new technologies to provide people with more convenient access to government information and services, to improve quality of service and provide opportunities to participate in democratic institutions and processes of governing a nation. It also provides opportunities to move forward in the 21st century with high quality, cost effective government services delivery and the creation of better relationships between the people and government.
Zambia presently is in the process of formulating a national policy on ICT to foster and guide the use of ICTs for development in the country; however in the absence of ICT policy, ICTs are regulated by the Zambia’s Telecommunication Act of 1994.
The Zambia Telecommunication Company Limited (ZAMTEL), which administers Public Service Telecommunication Network (PSTN) in Zambia, was established in 1994 through an Act of parliament. This followed a separation of the postal and telecommunications services under the postal and telecommunications Corporation.
The Country has three cellular service providers. Zamtel providers a analogue telephone system based on the Advanced Mobile Phones Services (AMPS) technology with an installed subscriber base of 10,000 but currently the entire exchange network is undergoing digitalisation in preparation for the introduction of Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM) while TELECEL and CELTEL provide a GSM system with a combined subscriber base of about 139,092.
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