At the telecentre, the community would be able to access information through television and ICT tools such as the internet, fax and telephones.
About 15 telecentres have already been built across the country according to Enock Mpenzwa who is programme officer in the ministry of Communications, Science and Technology. The creation of telecentres is provided for by the Universal Communication Access Act, 2006.
“We have seen great potentials of these centres in the areas already built…we plan to build some 3000 more of them in a few years to come,” he told The Citizen in an exclusive interview last Wednesday.
He said, currently, the government was discussing with telecom operators in order to find ways to collaborate to bring telecommunications services in rural areas. Tanzania established the Universal Communications Access Fund to finance rural telecommunications project.
The main contributors of the fund are the government, the Tanzania Communication Regulatory Authority (TCRA), Development Partners and Telecom Operators who set aside 0.3 per cent of their annual turnover.
While the urban communities have seen the positive contribution of ICTs in several dimensions like increases in efficiencies, communications and information on anytime rural areas have been left behind.
However, significant and mass impact is yet to be felt among vast majority of the rural communities.
“In the case of Tanzania, lack of electricity in the rural areas has been among the challenges, but we plan to involve other players and make sure that the facilities can run even on solar energy,” said Mr Mpenzwa.
Telecentres also provide important avenues to bridge the digital divide as well as to offer services to un-serviced areas through ICTs due to their strategic locations and relevance.
In countries with well-developed centres, the community gets to access credible information on sectors for rural development namely agriculture, health, education, social welfare, rural energy and e-governance.
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Autor(en)/Author(s): Al-amani Mutarubukwa
Quelle/Source: The Citizen Daily, 14.11.2011
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