Internet services in Zimbabwe were restored after fixed telephone service provider TelOne paid its outstanding $700 000 debt to Intelsat, a company spokesperson said on Tuesday.
”We were bailed out by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe late on Friday,” Phil Chingwaru, TelOne spokesperson said. ”We were given $1-million although our bill was only $700 000.”
Intelsat, the international communication carrier, had cut the state-owned firm from the global gateway for debt arrears.
Although TelOne has settled the Intelsat bill, it is still saddled with other debts running into millions of dollars, Chingwaru said.
He said to boost its foreign currency income, TelOne has diversified into horticulture, floriculture and tobacco and expects to earn $12-million from exports.
”We are also expecting another â,¬8-million from the sale of flowers,” he said.
The firm is reeling under a foreign currency crunch and has asked the government to compel diplomatic missions and internet service providers to pay their monthly subscriptions in foreign currency, Chingwaru said.
”We have the Zimbabwe dollar component, but what we need is foreign currency,” he said.
The Southern African country is in the midst of an economic crisis characterised by four-digit inflation, soaring poverty levels, an unemployment rate hovering at over 70% and chronic shortages of fuel and basic goods such as cornmeal. — Sapa-AFP