Telecommunication operator:
Telecomunicações de
Moçambique (TDM) is an independent state-owned firm
responsible for the provision of public telecommunications services. TDM was transformed
into a publicly-owned business firm by Decree No. 23/92, on September 10, 1992, as part of
the larger economic reform underway in Mozambique. TDM was restructured to function as a
commercial entity with financial autonomy, and it has responsibility for planning,
installation and operation of the national and international network. The major services
offered by TDM are telephone/fax, telex, leased lines, radio and television transmissions,
cellular telephones (GSM) and Internet services.
The telecommunications
infrastructure is expanding rapidly in Mozambique. It is currently one of the few
countries that has allocated 5% of its GDP for the telecommunications sector.
The Telecommunication
Development Bureau (TDB) of the International Telecommunication Union has launched its
first Telemedicine
project in Mozambique. Telemedicine refers to the
provision of medical services and health care via existing telecommunications-based
systems (terrestrial and satellites links). The range of services include medical
consultation, pathology diagnosis, education and emergency services. Two central
hospitals, one in Maputo (the capital of Mozambique with a population over 1.1 million),
and one in Beira (with a population of 0.32 million) have been connected by a telemedicine
link using the existing telecommunications infrastructure. Both hospitals will now be able
to make use of standard low-cost teleradiology equipment that allows for the exchange of
images such as radiographs, as well as the transmission of laboratory results. The
project has been carried out by a multidisciplinary group of partners including
Telecomunicações de Moçambique (TDM) and a telemedicine equipment vendor, WDS
Technologies of Switzerland.
Telecommunication regulator:
In addition to establishing TDM as an independent company, the Instituto Nacional das
Comunicaçoes de Moçambique (INCM) was established as an independent regulatory body
under the umbrella of the Ministry of Transport and Communications (MTC). INCM undertakes
several responsibilities, including licensing, spectrum management, formulation and
interpretation of sector policy, international relations, and defining and monitoring
compliance with the performance targets set for TDM.
Teledensity:
- Total: 0.44 (2000)
- Largest cities:
2.40 (1999)
- Rest of the country:
0.02 (1999)
There is a high disparity of
telecommunications access between the urban and the rural areas of Mozambique. Sixty-four
percent of all lines are concentrated in the capital city, Maputo, and the second and
third largest cities in the country have 11% and 7% of all lines, respectively.
Digital main lines: 99.0%
(2000)
Waiting list for a telephone
line:
- Total: 39,700
(2000)
- Average waiting time:
5.9 years (2000)
- Total demand (k):
125.4 (2000)
- Satisfied demand (%):
68.4 (2000)
Telephone Tariffs:
| PSTN connection
charge - residential and business |
US$ 27.00 |
| PSTN monthly
subscription - residential and business |
US$ 7.5 |
| PSTN 3 minute
local call |
US$ 0.16 |
Source: African
Telecommunication Indicators 2001
Public telephones:
1,200 (2000)
Public telephones per 1,000
inhabitants: 0.06 (2000)
Mobile cellular subscribers:
22,000 (2000)
mCel is the first
mobile telephone service operated by Telecomunicações Móveis de Moçambique, LDA (TMM),
and it uses the GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) technology system. TMM is a
joint venture between TDM (74%) and DETECON, Deutsche Telepost Consulting GmbH (26%). With
a testing phase of 1,000 users in September 1997, mCel forecasted the extension of the
services to 5,000 users more by mid-1998.
Following the recent strengthening
of ties between South Africa and Mozambique, South Africa's Vodacom has announced an
international roaming agreement with Mozambican cellular network operator Mcel. Vodacom
subscribers are now able to use their cellphones on the roads from Komatipoort to Maputo,
Maputo to Xai-Xai and Maputo to Swaziland.
Cellular subscribers as a % of
total telephone susbcribers: 13.6 (1999)
Mobile cellular tariffs (2000):
| Connection charge
|
US$ 74.4 |
| Monthly
subscription |
US$ 33.5 |
| 3 minute local
call - peak |
US$ 1.56 |
| 3 minute local
call - off-peak |
US$ 0.45 |
Source: African
Telecommunication Indicators 2001
Telecommunications revenue (M
US$): 74.4 (2000)
Telecommunications investment (M
US$): 19.7 (2000)
Telecommunications investment as
% of revenue: 26.5 (2000)
Telecom equipment exports (M
US$): na
Telecom equipment imports (M
US$): na
Telecentres: Pilot
Telecentres in Manhica and Namaacha
A telecentre project funded by IDRC
is underway in Mozambique. This project is designed to assess the telecentre approach in
two small communities, Namaacha and Manhica, both of which are about an hour drive
from Maputo. The introduction of telecentres in rural areas is considered to be a means of
accelerating rural development and reducing imbalances between city and countryside by
accelerating rural development. The specific objectives of the project include:
- establishing two telecentres which
provide access to telephone, fax, e-mail, Internet, computer use, printing and copying
facilities;
- training clients in computer use,
with priority given to teachers and students from upper secondary schools, representatives
of civil society, and women and men from marginalised groups;
- providing support for telecentre
management over a four-year period, with progressive emphasis on sustainability;
- measuring the quality and relevance
of the services provided;
- evaluating the telecentres impact
within the target groups (the education sector, local administration, civil society
bodies, economic agents) and in the community in general;
- testing equipment, systems, programs
and other material from the user's point of view and for quality and durability; and
- creating a body of Web content that
meets the needs of users.
Further information on the
status of the project can be found at Bellanet GK-AIMS web page.
Facsimiles: 7,200
(1996)
Mozambique has two television
broadcasting agencies: the national state television network, "Televisao de
Moçambique (TVM)", and a private broadcasting organisation, "Radio e
Televisao Klint (RTK)", each of them operating on one channel.
RKT, the state-run "Radio
Moçambique (RM)" and Radio Miramar are the major radio broadcasting agencies in the
country.
Cooperative, mixed and private
sectors wishing to participate in radio and television broadcasting are required to have
an operating licence and a radio-frequency licence from the Direcçao de Informaçao and
the Instituto Nacional das Comunicaçoes de Moçambique (INCM) respectively.
With the support of the World Bank,
the Centre Informatica at the Universidade Eduardo Mondlane (CIUEM) installed a VSAT with
a 384 Kbps link to Washington to activate its distance training facility. The CIUEM and
Televisao de Moçambique (TVM) will share the infrastructure for distance education.
Radio per 100
inhabitants: 3.8 (1995)
Television receivers per
100 inhabitants: 0.5 (2000)
Cable TV subscribers:
na
Home satellite
dishes/antennas: na
