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Mugabe loses telecoms control
04/02/2004 18:50 - (SA)
Harare - The Harare High Court has reversed a government order giving the state sole control over Zimbabwe's international telephone, satellite and telecommunications links.
Judge Yunis Omerjee on Tuesday granted an application by Econet Wireless, the country's largest independent cellular telephone operator, to rescind the January 30 order, according to court documents.
The order had raised fears that the government intended to step up eavesdropping on international communications.
It gave private communications companies, mobile phone and Internet providers 30 days to channel all their connections through the state-run Tel-One phone company and the government-owned satellite earth station near the capital, Harare.
Attorney Eric Matinenga, for Econet Wireless, argued the move violated a 1998 Supreme Court ruling that dismantled the state telecommunications monopoly and granted licenses to private operators.
He said Tel-One, privatised soon afterward, remained part of the state-controlled postal and telecommunications network, but did not have the capacity to handle all the nation's traffic.
He also argued the order gave Tel-One unfair commercial advantage over its licensed competitors.
President Robert Mugabe's government has sought to crack down on dissent since his disputed re-election in 2002.
Opposition leaders, trade unionists and journalists have been jailed, and the government has waged a lengthy legal battle to shut down the country's only independent daily newspaper.
- AP
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