Airtel, two others sued in Zambia over 'poor quality' of service

Zambia telecom regulator ZICTA has filed criminal cases against all three operators in the country Airtel, MTN and state-run Zamtel alleging poor quality mobile phone services.

"ZICTA has instituted criminal proceedings against all three mobile phone service providers namely Airtel Networks Zambia, MTN Zambia and Zambia Telecommunication Company Ltd (Zamtel), for failure to meet minimum standards of quality of service," ZICTA spokesperson Ngabo Nankond said in a statement.

No immediate comments were received from Airtel on the matter.

Zambia Information and Communications Technology Authority said under rules in force it has an option to invoke either administrative or criminal sanctions arising from the failure to adhere to the set parameters relating to quality of service.

"The deteriorating levels of Quality of Service has made communication difficult and resulted in increased public outcry and negative impact on ease of doing business in Zambia," Nankond said.

The Board of the Authority, on June 27, 2013 authorised Management's decision to move for prosecuting all the three mobile service providers for offering poor quality of service to the public, she said.

"The Authority, on July 4, 2013, instituted criminal proceedings against the mobile service providers on two counts of failure to meet minimum standards of quality of service as specified and published by the Authority and on failure to comply with a provision of the Quality of Service Guidelines issued by the Authority," Nankond said.