Internet penetration and ISPs

The number of Internet users in Zimbabwe in 2008 was reportedly 1,421,000, or approximately 10.5 percent of Zimbabwe’s population of 13.3 million. This is a stunning increase from the 2000 penetration rate of 0.4 percent. The high cost of mobile phones – repeated tariff hikes brought the mobile-to-mobile cost per minute to as much as ZWD72 million (USD0.12 at June 2008 exchange rates) – has made the Internet a comparatively cheaper, and therefore more popular, form of communication. Still, hyperinflation has left the government bankrupt and eight in ten Zimbabweans destitute, and unemployment is at 94 percent. In such an environment, demand for luxury goods such as computers and Internet use is low.

The Mugabe-Tsvangirai Government of National Unity has established a new Ministry of Information and Communications Technology

Ministry of Information and Communications Technology (Zimbabwe)

The Ministry of Information and Communications Technology is a government ministry, responsible for postal services, telephones and information technology in Zimbabwe. The incumbent is Nelson Chamisa. It oversees:* Net*One* TelOne* Zimpost...

 that will focus on ICT growth and development. In April 2009 the government announced a plan to establish Internet cafés at post offices in rural areas. However, given the state of the country’s economy, progress in the ICT sector is slow.

Zimbabwe’s first ISP, Data Control, was established in 1996. In 1997, the national Posts and Telecommunication Corporation (PTC) built a national Internet backbone and began selling bandwidth to private ISPs. The Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (POTRAZ) oversees ISP licensing. Licenses cost US$2–4 million, depending on the level of service the ISP wishes to provide, plus 3.5 percent of the ISP’s annual gross income. The most recent membership list on the Zimbabwe Internet Service Providers Association (ZISPA) Web site comprises 28 ISPs.

Government-owned communications company TelOne, which is not part of ZISPA, is Zimbabwe’s largest ISP; it provides bandwidth to most other ISPs in the country. In September 2006, international satellite communications provider Intelsat cut service to TelOne after the company failed to pay its USD700,000 debt. TelOne requested money from Zimbabwe’s Reserve Bank to pay the debt, but the money was delayed for several weeks. During this time, Internet users in the country experienced severe delays. Service was restored after the reserve bank paid the outstanding debt.

Financial problems have continued to plague TelOne: in April 2009, the company raised its monthly service charges from less than USD30 to USD300. The price hike affected both individual Internet subscribers and Internet cafés throughout the country, many of whom were forced to cancel their subscriptions and, in the case of cafés, shut their doors. In June 2009, the country’s Minister of Information and Communication Technology ordered TelOne to lower its prices; the government then announced plans to privatize the company as part of its attempt to revitalize the country’s economy.

Legal and regulatory framework

The Post and Telecommunications Act of 2000 allows the government to monitor e-mail usage and requires ISPs to supply information to government officials when requested. The Supreme Court, however, ruled in 2004 that the sections of the law that permit monitoring violated the constitution. The government struck back with an initiative that requires ISPs to renew contracts with TelOne with the stipulation that they report any e-mail with “offensive or dangerous” content. In essence, this requires ISPs to do what the Supreme Court has ruled unconstitutional. The Zimbabwe Internet Service Providers Association has stated that none of its members will sign agreements with TelOne.

The government strengthened its Internet surveillance policies with the Interception of Communications Bill of 2006. Under its provisions, the government will establish a telecommunications agency called the Monitoring and Interception of Communications Center to oversee, among other things, all telecommunications and postal services. Telecommunications and Internet service providers are required to ensure that their systems are technically capable of monitoring and to cover all associated costs. The government initially withdrew the bill in November 2006 over constitutionality objections from the Parliamentary Legal Committee, but the parliament approved it in June 2007.

In June 2009, the government began discussing a new Information Communication and Technology Bill, which will take the place of the Broadcasting Services Act and the Postal and Telecommunications Act. It will also amend some sections of the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act, which, among other things, governs the accreditation of journalists. If passed, the bill will consolidate ICT regulation under the proposed National Information and Communications Technology Authority of Zimbabwe, which will oversee ICT, broadcasting and postal services. The Authority will technically be an independent organization, though it will also be responsible for enacting government policies, a duty that may compromise its independence.

Surveillance and censorship

According to Reporters Without Borders, during the 2008 presidential elections, government forces hacked into journalists’ e-mail accounts; eight journalists were fired for allegedly failing to support Mugabe and the ZANU-PF. Employees of the Reserve Bank are not allowed to receive e-mails containing the words “Morgan Tsvangirai” or “MDC”; the bank has had an e-mail content manager installed since 2006 that prevents e-mails with political content from reaching their intended recipients. In 2005, authorities arrested 40 people in a raid on a local Internet café because an e-mail insulting Mugabe was sent from the location.

The OpenNet Initiative

OpenNet Initiative

The OpenNet Initiative is a joint project whose goal is to monitor and report on internet filtering and surveillance practices by nations. The project employs a number of technical means, as well as an international network of investigators, to determine the extent and nature of government-run...

conducted testing on Zimbabwean ISP CABSAS in September 2008 and found no evidence of filtering.