Maputo, 19 Mar (AIM) – Hundreds of people marched through the streets of central Maputo on Saturday to the headquarters of the telecommunications regulatory body, the INCM, in protest against higher fees for internet and phone use that have been in force since 4 May.
The INCM’s statements about the new fees have been contradictory. Initially, it said it was merely imposing a minimum limit, below which the fees should not fall. But it was soon clear that the new “minimum” was much higher than the fees previously charged by telecommunications operators
Then the INCM claimed it had to step in to ensure the sustainability of the operators and avoid the collapse of the telecoms market. In particular, it banned operators from offering their clients unlimited Internet usage.
But none of the three mobile phone companies (T-Mcel, Vodacom and Movitel), nor any of the other operators that offer Internet services, had ever claimed that their businesses were on the brink of collapse. None had requested that the regulator push up tariffs, and none had claimed that the tariffs practiced were anti-competitive.
It was only the INCM that imagined there was a threat to the sustainability of the market.
“The Internet has become very expensive for citizens’ pockets”, one representative of the protesters, Quiteria Guirengane, told AIM. She pointed out that the cost of Internet access has an impact on other services – for instance, to apply for a new identity card or passport, citizens need to request an interview and that is done online.
Guirengane said that the elimination of the packages that include unlimited Internet access means that the Internet has become much more expensive for students and for professionals who need the Internet for their work.
“The internet is fundamental to ensure an easier life for citizens when they are dealing with important documents”, she added. “There are parents and guardians who have two or three children using the Internet for their studies. How will these parents be able to buy megabytes per day for each child to be able to continue their studies”
Guirengane also feared that pushing up telecommunications prices might be a political measure “to silence Mozambicans”.
“These exorbitant prices must be abandoned”, she declared.
Guirengane had led a group of activists who held a meeting with the INCM management last week, at which they demanded that the INCM revoke the resolution approving the new tariffs “which are completely insensitive, immoral, anti-competitive, inhuman and unsustainable because they seriously violate our fundamental rights, such as the right to information, and the rights to education, work and identity, which are enshrined in the Constitution”.
The head of the group of the opposition Mozambique Democratic Movement (MDM), in the Maputo Municipal Assembly, Augusto Mbazo, told reporters “Injustices must be corrected. This attitude of the government, of increasing the costs of the Internet is a setback and a limitation on access to information. Above all, it amputates social and economic development. As a people, we cannot allow this to happen”.
While the march in Maputo took place with the full consent of the municipal authorities, and under the protection of the police, the police in the central city of Beira banned a march with identical demands.
A prominent human rights lawyer, Custodio Duma, has described the new tariffs as “illegal” and is threatening to take the INCM to court. He found it absurd that the INCM claimed the new tariffs were a legal minimum when in reality they are much higher than the prices currently charged by the operators.
(AIM)
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