Telecommunications in Tanzania

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Telecommunications in Tanzania include radio, television, fixed and mobile telephones, and the Internet available in mainland Tanzania and the semiautonomous Zanzibar archipelago.

Contents

Regulation and licensing

In 2005, mainland Tanzania, but not the semiautonomous Zanzibar archipelago, modified its licensing system for electronic communications, modelling it on the approach successfully pioneered in Malaysia in the late 1990s where traditional "vertical" licenses (the right to operate a telecom or a broadcasting network, and right to provide services on that network) are replaced by "horizontal" licenses (the right to operate telecom and broadcasting networks, with a separate license required to provide services on each network). Called the "Converged Licensing Framework (CLF)", this reform was the first of its kind put into practice on the African continent, and allows investors to concentrate on their area of expertise (i.e. network facility, network services, application services, and content services) across a larger number of previously separate sectors (i.e. telecommunications, broadcasting, Internet). This reform should, among other things, facilitate the arrival of telephone services over cable television networks, television services over telecommunications networks, and Internet services over all types of networks. [1]

Under the Converged Licensing Framework four categories of license are available: [1]

At the end of 2013 there were: [2]

A complete list of licensed operators and contractors is available from the Tanzania Communication Regulatory Authority (TCRA) website. [2]

Radio and television

There are government restrictions on broadcasting in tribal languages. [4]

The semiautonomous Zanzibari government controls the content of all public and private radio and television broadcasts in its islands. Even in the case of state television broadcast from the mainland, there was a delay in the feed, allowing Zanzibari censors to intervene. However, Zanzibari radio stations operate relatively independently, often reading the content of national dailies, including articles critical of the Zanzibari government. [4]

Telephones

Mobile phone companies

Some of the mobile phone companies operating in Tanzania with market share as of December 2022 as published by the Tanzania Communication Regulatory Authority are: [7]

Internet

SEACOM-Network Map. Click on map to enlarge. SEACOM Network Map.jpg
SEACOM-Network Map. Click on map to enlarge.

Internet services have been available since 1995, but there was no international fiber connectivity available until 2009. Before then, connectivity to the rest of the world, including to neighboring countries, was obtained using satellite networks. The SEACOM and the Eastern Africa Submarine Cable System submarine fiber cable projects were implemented in July 2009 and July 2010, respectively, and brought higher speed Internet connectivity to Tanzania with lower latency and lower cost. [14] [15] This resulted in more than an eight-fold improvement in download speeds from between 90 and 200 kbit/s in mid to late 2008 to between 1.5 and 1.8 Mbit/s in late 2009 with further improvements to between 3.6 and 4.2 Mbit/s in 2013. [16]

Internet service providers

Some of the Internet Service Providers operating in Tanzania are: [2]

Data operators

Some of the data operators in Tanzania are: [2]

Censorship and surveillance

There are no government restrictions on access to the Internet; however, the government monitors websites that criticize the government. Police also monitor the Internet to combat illegal activities. [4]

Freedom of speech

The constitution provides for freedom of speech, but does not explicitly provide for freedom of the press. A permit is required for reporting on police or prison activities, and journalists need special permission to attend meetings in the Zanzibar House of Representatives. Anyone publishing information accusing a Zanzibari representative of involvement in illegal activities is liable to a fine of not less than TSh  250,000/= (US$158), three years' imprisonment, or both. Nothing in the law specifies whether this penalty stands if the allegation is proven true. Media outlets often practice self-censorship to avoid conflict with the government. [4]

The law generally prohibits arbitrary interference with privacy, family, home, or correspondence without a search warrant, but the government does not consistently respect these prohibitions. It is widely believed that security forces monitor telephones and correspondence of some citizens and foreign residents. The actual nature and extent of this practice is unknown. [4]

Under the Electronic and Postal Communications (Online Content) Regulations 2018, blogs, online forums, and internet radio and television operations, must register with the government as an online content provider, and pay an annual fee. The fee is roughly equivalent to the annual income in Tanzania. [17] Online content providers may not post obscene or explicit content, hate speech, content that "causes annoyance", incites harm or crime, or threatens national security and public safety. Violators may be fined or have their licences revoked. [18] [19]

See also

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References

  1. 1 2 "Licensing Information" Archived 2020-08-11 at the Wayback Machine , Tanzania Communication Regulatory Authority. Retrieved 23 January 2014.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Licensed Operators and Contractors", Tanzania Communication Regulatory Authority.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 "Communications: Tanzania", World Factbook, U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, 7 January 2014. Retrieved 22 January 2014.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 "Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2017". www.state.gov. Retrieved 2018-08-01.
  5. ↑ Dialing Procedures (International Prefix, National (Trunk) Prefix and National (Significant) Number) (in Accordance with ITY-T Recommendation E.164 (11/2010)), Annex to ITU Operational Bulletin No. 994-15.XII.2011, International Telecommunication Union (ITU, Geneva), 15 December 2011. Retrieved 2 January 2014.
  6. ↑ "SEACOM Network" Archived 2016-11-21 at the Wayback Machine . Retrieved 23 January 2014.
  7. ↑ "COMMUNICATIONS STATISTICS REPORT : Quarter ending December 2022" Archived 2023-06-08 at the Wayback Machine , Tanzania Communication Regulatory Authority. Retrieved 01 August 2023.
  8. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2017-07-21. Retrieved 2017-07-24.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  9. ↑ Calculated using penetration rate and population data from "Countries and Areas Ranked by Population: 2012" Archived 2017-03-29 at the Wayback Machine , Population data, International Programs, U.S. Census Bureau, retrieved 26 June 2013
  10. ↑ "Fixed (wired)-broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants 2012", Dynamic Report, ITU ITC EYE, International Telecommunication Union. Retrieved on 29 June 2013.
  11. ↑ "Active mobile-broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants 2012", Dynamic Report, ITU ITC EYE, International Telecommunication Union. Retrieved on 29 June 2013.
  12. ↑ "CIPB - Allocation of IP addresses by Country". www.countryipblocks.net. Retrieved 2018-08-01.
  13. ↑ "National Bureau of Statistics | Statistics for Development". www.nbs.go.tz. Retrieved 2018-08-01.
  14. ↑ SEACOM Knowledge Centre FAQ Archived 2011-04-23 at the Wayback Machine
  15. ↑ ""EASSy Enters Commercial Service", EASSy, 5 August 2010, accessed 28 November 2014". Archived from the original on 1 August 2018. Retrieved 28 November 2014.
  16. ↑ "Download speed graph for Tanzania, September 2008 to present", Broadband Performance, Google Public Data Explorer. Retrieved 23 January 2014.
  17. ↑ "Tanzania: Bloggers to be charged $900 (average annual income) per year for right to speak". Peril of Africa. 15 April 2018. Archived from the original on 11 September 2019. Retrieved 25 April 2018.
  18. ↑ Dahir, Abdi Latif (10 April 2018). "Tanzania social media and blogging regulations charge to operate online". Quartz. Retrieved 2018-04-25.
  19. ↑ "THE ELECTRONIC AND POSTAL COMMUNICATIONS (ONLINE CONTENT) REGULATIONS, 2018" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on June 24, 2019. Retrieved April 24, 2018.

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