Western civilization conceived the idea of constant supply of electricity to power all modes and applications in Information and Communication Technology, ICT. The obvious implication is that ICT would not thrive in any place without adequate electricity supply.
That is why the persistent power blackout which Malawi has been experiencing in recent times is reported to have adversely affected the effective delivery of services by internet service providers.
The Chairperson of Media and Communications Parliamentary Committee, Sam Kawale, made the observation last week when members of his committee toured some establishment of Internet connectivity sites in the capital city, Lilongwe.
Mr. Kawale said the lack of reliable power had forced internet service providers to depend on other sources of energy which are very expensive for their operations. “As a country we can do better if the issue of power generation is handled as a matter of urgency in order to overcome some of the problems we are facing,” he explained.
The Parliamentary Committee Chairman said as a result of this, most internet providers were surcharging the consumers more while maximizing on their profits. Mr. Kawale, who noted that internet rate was generally viewed to be high in the country, explained that the situation could be blamed on the high taxation which the service providers were subjected to.
He said that as a country, Malawi needed to address some of the challenges the communication sector was facing. “As a Committee of parliament on media and communication, we will ensure that some of the issues being raised would be adequately tackled in order to serve clients better,” the Chairperson pointed out.
The Chief Director in the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology, Mrs. Nwazi Mnthambala, admitted that government was aware of some challenges the communication sector was facing in the country.
She regretted that the issue of power blackout has negatively affected service delivery in the sector, describing it as an urgent problem that should be immediately addressed.
Mrs. Mnthambala explained that measures were being put in place to ensure that the sector would be assisted particularly on the issue of power supply where various service providers have resorted to the use of other sources of energy.
