SUKOLUHLE NDLOVU RECENTLY IN SHURUGWI
The Postal Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (POTRAZ) is pushing for people living with disabilities (PLWD) to have equal access to information and communication technologies.
Speaking at a recent official opening of the 16 community information centres in the Midlands Province, the POTRAZ director general, Gift Machengete, said the move will ensure that PLWD are not left behind on information dissemination.
“In the interest of ICT inclusivity and in tandem with the NDS1 and SDGs theme of leaving no one and no place behind, POTRAZ has provided assistive software and hardware to various institutions housing people with disabilities. In addition, the Authority has been paying for licence renewal of the software. The equipment and software enable people with disabilities to access and use ICTs”, he said.
He added: “POTRAZ has been rolling out a number of other ICT access and use projects to ensure no one and no place is left behind in the digital highway. To mention but a few, the Authority is funding the relocation of collocated towers around the country to ensure unserved and underserved rural areas receive connectivity and participate fully in the digital economy in line with the requirements of NDS1.”
Machengete said a collaboration between mobile network service providers will see most areas across the country getting connectivity.
“All the three mobile network operators (Econet Wireless Zimbabwe, NetOne and Telecel) are derigging selected towers at sites where there is duplication in terms of tower deployment and then erect them in areas that do not have connectivity,” he said.
