Zimbabwe Intensifies Crackdown On Starlink Traders
Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (POTRAZ) director-general Gift Machengete has warned companies illegally advertising and distributing internet services and gadgets from Starlink, which is not licenced to operate in Zimbabwe, that they will be prosecuted.
There has been an increase in the number of local businesses promoting Starlink on social media platforms, particularly Facebook.
Speaking in an interview with The Herald, Machengete revealed that an illegal commercial courier, Macrotop Zim (Pvt) Ltd based in Msasa, was arrested recently after the company was caught delivering Starlink kits to customers.
The company has reportedly been delivering the parcels to customers after the production of proof of payment at its headquarters in Harare CBD.
POTRAZ confiscated two customer receipts after being produced as proof of payment to collect parcels.
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The company was reportedly found with items labelled with the customers’ names and Zimbabwean contact telephone numbers.
Machengete said the parcels were ordered from China and destined for delivery in Zimbabwe. He said:
Either customers come personally to collect, or the parcels are delivered to their doorstep.
Paperwork is set to be done on Monday in preparation for a court appearance. Because the parcels were far too many, we seized only 10 parcels which we took to ZRP Licence Inspectorate.
We also took their health licence, and on Monday they are required to produce all the company documents at the police station.
We are now planning to come up with our POTRAZ seal which we will use to seal such premises when they have too many parcels for us to confiscate.
These traders who were selling Starlink products broke the law and they were arrested and they will be prosecuted because they did something that is against the law.
If you bring Starlink equipment here, you have not been authorised by Potraz as per the law.
If you are found with it you will be arrested. Starlink or any other satellite company is allowed to operate in Zimbabwe provided they are licenced.
You need a licence to operate in the telecommunications sector and that is the law.
We are waiting for Starlink to submit the relevant information that is required by the regulator.
Zimbabweans are increasingly eager to ditch local internet service providers for Starlink due to their poor service and high cost of data packages.
More: Pindula News
