On December 19, 2018, Chipo Mtasa (photo), managing director of TelOne, appealled to the parliamentary committee in charge of ICTs to help avoid the interruption of Zimbabwe’s incumbent operator’s network.  

At the end of the parliamentarians’ visit at Mazowe earth satellite station, the head of the telecom company explained that the public company, pressed by its 22 creditors for a $22 billion debt, could be unable to offer its telecom services if nothing is done in time.

“TelOne is in receipt of demand letters from the following service providers ; TDM of Mozambique- $5.7 million for backhaul services, Telecom Capital Finance- $1.1 million for loan repayment, Duraline- $84,000 for network material, WIOCC -$6.2 million for internet bandwidth,” said Chipo Mtasa to the committee.  

“TelOne continues to be crippled by the escalating arrears on a monthly basis with no meaningful allocations received since July 2018. Consequently, foreign payment arrears have accumulated to $22 million for services and other obligations. We continue to plead for the telecommunications sector to be prioritized for foreign currency allocations and this needs your urgent intervention as the situation is now out of control,” she added.

Chipo Mtasa stressed the fact that TelOne is actually facing “threats of disruptions”, which if they materialize could lead to an interruption of the company’s operations and an internet blackout in the country.