Zimbabwe internet and email threatened with collapse over unpaid debts

By Violet Gonda
19 September 2006

TelOne, Zimbabwe’s main internet connection is down, because of non payment of debts causing a great deal of congestion on the internet.
Internet experts say the main satellite connection run by the state owned TelOne has not been able to pay subscriptions to IntelSat because of the critical shortage of foreign currency in the country.
This had resulted in the jamming of outward-bound mail and web access in Zimbabwe.

The ‘traffic jam’ has not only created inconveniences for the ordinary person but also serious problems for the business community in the last three weeks. Varley Rowell an employee at Utande, one of the Internet Service Providers (ISPs) in the country, said this has become a major concern for ISPs because “it impacts on the efficiency of delivery and it’s difficult for business to be efficient without emails.”

She said responsibility for payment would be with TelOne but they in turn have to get approval for all payments that are denominated in foreign currency by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, which has no forex.