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Malawi finalises cross-border frequency agreements

 

Malawi has become the first country in the Southern Africa Development Community (Sadc) to finalise the signing of cross-border frequency agreements with all her neighbouring countries.

Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (Macra) said in a statement signed by communications manager Clara Mwafulirwa that the final Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the telecommunication and broadcasting services was signed with Zambia on May 3 this year.

Mwafulirwa: It is now in force

 The country already has similar agreements with Mozambique and Tanzania.

“The MoUs will remain in force for a period of five years. Thereafter, it will automatically be extended for another period of five years unless terminated by either party,” reads the statement.

The statement further says cross-border coordination agreement between countries helps in avoiding radio frequency harmful interference along the border.

“This happens when both countries have assigned the same frequencies to their network operators and the spillage across the borders results in interference. A case in point is at Lizulu where while in Malawi, local subscribers get messages as if they are roaming in Mozambique,” reads the statement.

In an interview one of the concerned citizens Twasa Swira, who plies his trade at Songwe Border Post in Karonga District bordering Tanzania, said the problem is huge in some parts of the district close to Tanzania.

According to Swira, to avoid unintentional roaming and incur extra charges, he opted for a Tanzanian mobile service operator.

Cross-border frequency coordination is a technical and regulatory process that seeks to remove or mitigate radio frequency interference among countries between different radio stations and mobile network operators which utilise the same operational frequency. n

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