Atlas the government of Zimbabwe has heeded to the call of the citizen not to increase telecommunication data prices.
A statement on Friday from the Information Communication Technology Minister Supa Mandiwanzira confirmed that the country has reversed the decision and would not impose a drastic increase in mobile phone data charges.
In the outcry of the masses before the decision to reverse the price was taking, there were claims that President Robert Mugabe’s government was trying to curtail the use of social media with the planned data price scheme.
And this has thus provoked angry responses from customers and critics who used the Internet to mobilise the biggest anti-government protests in a decade, bypassing traditional opposition parties as anger grew over Mugabe’s handling of the economy.
Econet Wireless, the Southern African nation’s largest mobile telephone company, raised data charges by a multiple of 25, in line with new regulations from the Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe.
However, the minister said that the tariff increases were “shockingly high” and blamed mobile phone companies for “gluttonous corporate greed”.
Mandiwanzira said that the new prices had been proposed to the regulator by mobile phone companies.
Econet did not immediately respond to emailed questions.
“I have directed the immediate suspension of the tariff increases that were affected two days ago to the dismay of many mobile phone users,” Mandiwanzira said.
Econet’s cheapest data package, which came into effect on Wednesday night, gives users 10 megabytes of data for 1 dollar, compared with 250 megabytes per dollar previously.
