Zamtel to set up 700 new towers by end of 2019 – Mupeta

Zamtel has announced that it will construct 700 new communication towers by the end of 2019 as it continues with its aggressive network roll out across the country. Zamtel Chief Executive Officer Sydney Mupeta revealed that by end of 2019, 700 new sites will be active as part of the 1009 new towers to be constructed under the GRZ Communications Tower Project Phase II.

Mr Mupeta said the new sites will be mainly located in the rural areas which previously had no access to telecommunication services. He said this is in line with the Seventh National Development Plan aimed at providing communication access to all. Mr Mupeta was speaking on Saturday when Zamtel commissioned a new communication tower at Mansa School for Continuing Education.

He said 100 sites will be allocated to Luapula with Mansa alone having a total of 21 sites. So far 74 sites are active in Luapula with only 24 remaining to be deployed.

“This will result in almost 100 percent network coverage for the people of Luapula and once fully deployed, this will bring a lot of economic activities resulting in job creation. Mansa and Luapula province are priority areas for Zamtel due to the immense investment opportunities in the region. Zamtel will leverage the investment interests being generated in the province by providing digital solutions and services to the investment community,” Mr Mupeta stressed.

He also announced that Zamtel has started swapping out 2G sites with 3G in most parts of the country including Luapula. Mr Mupeta said once this process is completed, the complaints on the quality of the network will be a thing of the past.

“Customers with high-end phones, you may have noticed that you can access 4G in most parts of Mansa,” he added.

Mansa Central Member of Parliament Dr Chitalu Chilufya commended Zamtel for investing heavily in network expansion which he said has improved the quality of the network.

He observed that expanding the network in Mansa will help improve access to health related information which Zamtel will soon start broadcasting via SMSes.

Source: Zamtel