Media Wire Express Correspondent
The Minister of Information, Communications, and Information Technology, Hon. Nape Moses Nnauye (MP), has confirmed that the project to extend telecommunications to rural areas, involving the construction of 758 towers, will be completed by the year 2025.
Minister Nape made this statement on March 13, 2024, while briefing members of the Parliamentary Committee on Infrastructure during their visit to the construction site of a communication tower in Itaga Village, Misha Ward, Tabora.
He stated that contracts related to the project are expected to be finalized by February 2025, and added that before the general elections, all towers will be operational, connecting over 8 million people to the network.
Furthermore, the government plans to launch over 100 towers that have already been completed in the first phase during the celebrations of the 60th anniversary of the Union that year.
The Committee Chairperson, Hon. Selemani Moshi Kakoso (MP), urged the government to ensure timely completion of the tower construction, emphasizing the importance of communication in facilitating digital economy.
Hon. Kakoso also commended the Ministry for its efforts to improve communication services in the country, including the successes achieved in the Addressing Operations exercise.
The Chief Executive Officer of the Universal Communications Service Access Fund (UCSAF), Ms. Justina Mashiba, stated that the government, through the fund, has provided a subsidy of 320 million Tanzanian Shillings to the Tanzania Telecommunications Company Limited (TTCL) for the construction of 34 communication towers in specific areas of the country.
On his part, the Chief Executive Officer of Tanzania Telecommunications Company Limited (TTCL), Engineer Peter Ulanga, mentioned that many of the towers being constructed by the company are linked to the National Communication Backbone, resulting in improved communication speeds.
These 758 towers are being built in collaboration between the government through the Ministry of Information, Communications, and Information Technology and various telecommunications companies in the country, with the project being inaugurated by the President of the United Republic of Tanzania, H.E. Dr. Samia Suluhu Hassan, on May 13, 2023, at the Jakaya Kikwete International Conference Center in Dodoma.
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