The Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (POTRAZ) has implemented a new traffic monitoring and revenue assurance system to stem financial leakages from telecom services. The new tool will also be used to curb fraudulent activities in the telecoms sector, such as illegal call routing.
The system gives POTRAZ the ability to measure and calculate various statistics on domestic and international telecommunications traffic. "It should be emphasized at this point that the telecommunications traffic monitoring and revenue assurance system does not have the ability to monitor content and conversations. The system is limited to interacting with the signaling segment of the network and does not have access to traffic channels," said Jenfan Muswere, Minister of ICT, Post and Courier Services.
The new system replaces the self-declaration regime for mobile network operators that was in place until now. According to the regulator, the information and declarations previously provided by operators could be inaccurate, harming revenues. This initiative of the regulator is part of the government's objective to develop the telecommunications sector, which "is one of the main pillars for stimulating economic growth and development in order to achieve Vision 2030.”
Gift Machengete, POTRAZ's Chief Executive Officer commented, “This commissioning facilitates the implementation of a system based on state-of-the-art technology that will effectively monitor telecommunications traffic and collect accurate data in real-time. This will give the authority better visibility of market dynamics, which is essential for effective, efficient, and forward-looking regulation."