Zimbabwe has granted a black-owned firm a licence to operate fixed telephone services, a year after the Supreme Court broke a state monopoly of the market, government announced on Wednesday.
The permit was awarded to TeleAccess Zimbabwe, Transport and Communications Minister Witness Mangwende said.
The Supreme Court ruled in November 2001 that the monopoly held by the state firm, then called Posts and Telecommunications Corporation (PTC), on fixed lines was unconstitutional following.
A private cellular phone company, Econet, brought the case, arguing that the PTC monopoly was illegal.
TeleAccess had to pay a fee of $320-million to get the licence.
The government-operated firm, now called TelOne, has over the years failed to meet the demands for fixed telephone services. Receiving a telephone line can take many months to several years, especially in residential areas. – Sapa-AFP