{"id":4646,"date":"2024-10-03T16:06:34","date_gmt":"2024-10-03T16:06:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/?p=4646"},"modified":"2024-10-03T16:06:45","modified_gmt":"2024-10-03T16:06:45","slug":"ict-minister-clarifies-delay-in-licensing-starlink-distributors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/?p=4646","title":{"rendered":"ICT Minister Clarifies Delay in Licensing Starlink Distributors"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><br>Information and Technology Reporter<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Zimbabwe&#8217;s Information Communication Technology Minister, Tatenda Mavetera, has clarified that delays in licensing internet service providers to distribute Starlink products are due to the government&#8217;s thorough due diligence process. This process has already led to the licensing of three internet service providers &#8211; Zodsat, TelOne, and Aura Group &#8211; to provide Starlink services \u00b9.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Mavetera emphasized that the licensing of these providers does not grant exclusivity, and other players are free to enter the market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;The licensing of internet service providers to be Starlink resellers will not stop other players from entering the market as there is no exclusivity,&#8221; she stated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At the launch of Aura, a Starlink reseller, in Harare, Mavetera highlighted the government&#8217;s plans to license additional Starlink service providers. This move aims to ensure high-speed and low-cost connectivity across Zimbabwe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Aura, with its diverse interests in capital markets, financial services, ICT, mining, commodities, manufacturing, farming, logistics, real estate, and consultancy, will distribute satellite kits through its partnership with Starlink, a division of Elon Musk&#8217;s SpaceX.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, controversy surrounds the licensing process, with President Emmerson Mnangagwa&#8217;s associate, Wicknell Chivayo, attempting to secure an exclusive license through his company, IMC Communications. Chivayo&#8217;s bid was ultimately successful, raising concerns about the use of state resources for partisan interests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Key Developments:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Licensing Process: Government&#8217;s due diligence process delays licensing of internet service providers.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Licensed Providers: Zodsat, TelOne, and Aura Group licensed to provide Starlink services.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Market Openness: No exclusivity, other players free to enter the market.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Government Plans: Additional Starlink service providers to be licensed.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Controversy: Wicknell Chivayo&#8217;s exclusive license bid raises concerns.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Zim GBC News\u00a92024<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Information and Technology Reporter Zimbabwe&#8217;s Information Communication Technology Minister, Tatenda Mavetera, has clarified that delays in licensing internet service providers to distribute Starlink products are due to the government&#8217;s thorough&hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4647,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4646","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4646","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4646"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4646\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4648,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4646\/revisions\/4648"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4647"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4646"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4646"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4646"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}