The Zambia Information and Communications Technology Authority (ZICTA) has imposed regulatory sanctions on Airtel Networks Zambia Limited following a significant service interruption on June 10.
The business was asked to pay a K828,000 fine for breaking the Consumer Protection and Quality of Service Guidelines.
This development was revealed by Eng. Collins Mbulo, Director General of ZICTA, during a July 11 press conference in Lusaka.
ZICTA’s investigation
The ZICTA’s Director General noted that the regulator immediately began investigating the incident after the disruption impacted subscribers throughout Lusaka and Central Provinces, causing widespread inconvenience and raising concerns among customers and the business community.
Airtel’s responses and the Authority’s findings concluded that the operator had breached critical regulatory requirements.
ZICTA found three major violations: Airtel did not notify ZICTA and customers of the outage within an hour, as required by the Consumer Protection and Code of Conduct Guidelines; failed to provide a public apology within two hours of resolving the service disruption; and failed to address critical network faults within the timeframes specified by the Quality of Service Guidelines.
Sanctions against Airtel Zambia
Following the conclusion of the investigation, ZICTA responded by ordering Airtel to issue K5.2 million in service credits to impacted consumers, in addition to paying a K828,000 fine for breaking the Consumer Protection and Quality of Service Guidelines.
Additionally, Airtel must formally apologise to the public.
Airtel has pledged $75 million to accelerate its three-year investment plan into a single year to prevent similar incidents in the future. By December 2025, about 400 new network sites will have been deployed, all current sites will have been upgraded to 4G, and an additional 175 5G sites will be launched as part of this quick expansion.
The company also intends to modernise its core network infrastructure to increase overall service quality and dependability.
ZICTA to closely monitor Airtel Zambia for compliance
ZICTA clarified that these initiatives will be monitored closely to guarantee performance and compliance.
To guarantee dependable and open ICT services in Zambia, the Authority reaffirmed its dedication to upholding consumer rights and holding service providers responsible.
Eng. Mbulo concluded that since Zambia’s economy still depends on robust and superior digital infrastructure, Airtel and all other operators must fulfil their obligations to the Zambian people.
About the Zambia Information and Communications Technology Authority (ZICTA)
The Zambia Information and Communications Technology Authority (ZICTA) is an ICT regulatory organisation that regulates the ICT sector in Zambia.
The three Acts—the Postal Services Act No. 22 of 2009, the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act No. 21, and the Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) Act No. 15 of 2009—give it the authority to regulate ICTs, postal, and courier services in Zambia.
ZICTA, also known as “The Authority,” is under the Ministry of Transport, Works, Supply, and Communications, as granted by the ICT Act.
The Director General implements all Board decisions overseen by a nine-member non-executive Board of the Authority.
The Board is backed by an executive team with knowledge of economics, law and enforcement, technical and engineering, information technology, and finance.