Telcos told to jack up service

GOVERNMENT

By Gregory Gondwe, Lilongwe, Malawi

Malawian Information and Civic Education Minister Patricia Kaliati has urged telecommunication operators in the country to embrace the African Union (AU) Summit scheduled for July as an opportunity to market themselves by improving the quality of their services.

The Minister engaged telecommunications, courier and postal operators as part of the preparations for the summit, which is scheduled to start on July 9 and end on July 19 in the capital, Lilongwe.

She said both mobile and fixed phone service providers needed to jack up their services, considering that some of delegates would come from countries that are well advanced in terms of telecommunication than Malawi.

Kaliati told the operators to unite in improving communication in the country before, during and after the 19th AU Summit, saying communication would be paramount to the visitors, as they would need to communicate back home as to what is going on during the summit.

“We are here to explore means and ways of enhancing good quality communication,” said Kaliati during the meeting. She said the government expects a hight quality of service from the operators.

Besides urging the operators to add value to their services, she also tipped them on how they could roll out some of their services by suggesting that they could provide free SIM cards to the delegates so that they can easily buy airtime from the operators.

All the operators pledged to provide top class services during the Summit, adding that they would erect a pavilion at the summit to offer their services better.