By Postal Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (POTRAZ) Director General Gift Kallisto Machengete has said they are geared up to work in a Covid-19 induced environment since it is the new normal and they are promising new innovations as a result of their experience with the Pandemic.
Machengete was addressing the media, Tuesday on the Postal and Telecommunication sector Performance 4th Quarter 2021.
He told the press conference that POTRAZ have a positive outlook after Covid-19 and now they are ready to work under the Covid-19 environment and are promising better user friendly innovations in such a pandemic environment.
“We actually see a positive outlook, why do we see a positive outlook after Covid, it’s because we are sure we are now better equipped to operate within that environment having been in that environment for two years we are now better equipped. We now know its the new normal its not going to go away anytime soon so a lot of organizations have now opened.
“Civil servants are going to work, parastatal employees are now going to work, so we see an upward trajectory in terms of economic activity in the country and when you have an economic trajectory it means its a positive trajectory from where we are starting from.
“Furthermore Covid has taught us a lot of things, in fact any pandemic can actually be a driver to innovations, a lot of innovations are going to be coming up as a result of our experiences with the Covid pandemic and we believe we will see quite applications coming up to try and solve real life situations some of which have been a result of the Covid situation that afflicted us for the past two years.”
The demand for online or internet connection, fast changing of technologies advances and dynamic developments made POTRAZ to come up with new innovations in the industry this year such as Internet of Things (IoT), Machine to Machine learning, Artificial Intelligence, and Distributed Ledger amongst others.
Since 2021 was characterized by increased reliance on work – from – home, e-learning, e-conferencing resulting from the COVID – 19 effects, they are coming up with such innovations so that clients do not face any challenges whilst using the internet.
Machengete added that, “The various economic reforms by the Government of Zimbabwe have potential to positively transform the economy in 2022.
“However, as with the previous year, cost escalations are expected to continue, for as long as the dual currency system remains in practice. Hence, the intricacy of balancing service affordability and operator viability remains a priority for the regulator to address, whilst fiscal interventions may be necessary. It is hoped that the recent liberalization of the foreign currency market will improve foreign currency availability to the sector for investment in network expansion and upgrades for inclusive, high quality service delivery.”
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