THE UNIVERSITY OF ZAMBIA

SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING
DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL AND ELECTRONICS ENGINEERING

NAME: Nash H Kabunda
PROGRAMME: M.Eng ICT
COURSE: EEE6511 (Telecoms Industry, Policy & Regulation)
TASK: Assignment 2
LECTURER: Dr. D. Banda

HISTORY AND EVOLUTION OF THE ICT INDUSTRY IN ZAMBIA.
The first telephone exchange to be placed in Zambia was installed in Livingstone in 1913. The telephone circuit backbone infrastructure was developed in the major Zambian cities along the so called “line of rail”. The ‘line of rail’ spans from Livingstone through Lusaka to Copperbelt provinces.
After the independence of Zambia in 1964, the country’s economy was based on socialistic principles until 1991. This means major that major business institutions and industries such as the mines, airlines, national railways, the post and the telecommunication were wholly or majority share owned by the government of the republic of Zambia. Therefore the Zambia Telecommunication company provided all telecommunication and postal services as a monopoly in the early years after Zambia attained independence.
Liberalization of Zambian Economy
In 1991, Zambia political terrain changed to a multiparty and democratic environment. The new government commanded a new liberalized economy where private participation in all spheres of the economy was to be maximized and government’s minimized and eventually phased out completely.
In a major effort to liberalize the telecommunications industry, in 1994 the Zambian government passed the Telecommunications Act and Radio communications Act. This ushered a new era of private participation in the provision and operation of the telecommunication network and services.
The Telecommunications Act also established the Communications Authority of Zambia (CAZ), whose main aim was to act as a regulator and as a neutral player in