ZICTA Orders Airtel Zambia to Pay K4 Million in Compensation After Nationwide Outage

Airtel Zambia has been directed to compensate customers approximately K4 million in response to a widespread data outage across several provinces on Sunday, February 2.

Zambia Information and Communications Technology Authority (ZICTA), the nation's telecommunications regulator, issued the directive on Tuesday following a three-hour disruption that affected subscribers in Lusaka, the Southern, Western, Central, and Eastern Provinces.

The regulator also mandated Airtel Zambia to fast-track the upgrade of its network infrastructure mechanisms to prevent future network failures after concerns expressed by Mr Chaaba, ZICTA’s corporate affairs manager, about the recurring nature of service disruptions.

“We expect Airtel to address the root causes of these outages and improve the resilience of their infrastructure to maintain service reliability,” said Mr Chaaba.

Airtel Zambia, the country’s leading provider of prepaid and postpaid mobiles, has faced mounting criticism from customers over the consistency of its network services. 

While the mobile operator claimed that the outage was limited to internet services, some consumers reported that they could not make calls or use their mobile money services.

“ZICTA remains committed to protecting the interests of consumers and ensuring reliable communication services. The authority assures the public that corrective measures are being undertaken to prevent future occurrences,” added Mr Chaaba.

Airtel Zambia has yet to issue an official statement responding to the directive or inform customers how the compensation will be disbursed.