Two-thirds of Mozambicans Have No Internet Access -Report

Over 22 million people in Mozambique, about two-thirds of the country’s population, do not have access to the internet, the Mozambique News Agency (AIM) reported on Wednesday.

The report cited results of a survey released last week on users of telecommunications services in Mozambique by the country’s Communications Regulatory Authority (INCM) and the National Institute of Statistics.

The survey points out that the cost of Internet access is not cheap in the country, given the low purchasing power of Mozambicans.

“The cost of living and the purchasing power of Mozambicans is low compared with other members of SADC (Southern African Development Community).’’

The AIM-quoted the executive chairman of the INCM Board of Directors, Tuaha Mote, as saying at a ceremony presenting the results of the survey.

Mote said that this scenario indicated that his institution works more on regulation and that young people should be given more job opportunities in order to stimulate the use of Internet services.

“Our country has a high unemployment rate, but these are the biggest consumers of these services, giving jobs to these young people, so there will be greater use of these services and greater profitability of the economy,’’ he said.

Mote said that the challenge for communication providers was to provide accessible services.

“We believe that we have solved the problem of supply.

“Our biggest concern now in terms of the challenge (is) to solve the problem of demand.

“We have to create conditions so that the devices are accessible, and the cost of the communications services is also accessible so that there is an effective use of the services that run over the telecommunications network,’’ he said.

The most used operator is Movitel, a mobile telecommunication operator based in Mozambique, with an estimated coverage of 56.8 per cent of users, with the majority in the rural area in the central and northern regions.

Vodacom, a South African mobile communications company, followed in second with 42 per cent of the market being concentrated in the south of the country and urban areas. This is according to the AIM report.