Consumers of telecommunications services posted positive sentiment towards the telecoms regulator, Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (POTRAZ), thanks to a series of awareness campaigns by the regulator across the country that culminated in improved relationships with its stakeholders, a latest survey shows.
According to the Consumer Satisfactory Survey Report, released yesterday, there is an improved consumer’s awareness of the regulator among corporate consumers of telecommunications services of 64 percent as compared to 57 percent recorded in 2015.
Positive sentiment was also witnessed in household consumer awareness of the regulator of 23 percent against that of 9.2 percent in 2015.
Both corporate and household consumers had positive scores for the regulator’s customer satisfaction index at 56 and 52 percent respectively, but however still reflected information gaps on some roles and mandate of the regulator.
Several years ago, POTRAZ was seldom known amongst key stakeholders, a gap that left many aggrieved consumers of telecoms services devoid of remedial options against service providers.
The report highlighted consumers’ satisfaction with service provision in the sector.
Mobile telephone services scored 69 percent and 77 percent for household and corporate consumers respectively.
Internet and data service also realized commendable satisfaction ratings of 62 percent for household consumers and 77 percent for corporate consumers.
However, users of mobile telephone services declined to 93 percent from 99 percent in 2015 for household users.
“Operators can now further investigate on their own and see areas that need improvement as per consumer requests,” POTRAZ director general Gift Machengete said at the launch of the report yesterday.
Researchers of the survey, Topline Research Solutions (TRS) said the exercise is aimed at informing sector players on how best to improve their services.
“All mobile network operators should always monitor critical network parameters, such as network quality, network availability and voice quality. They should also invest in technological innovations to bring more convenience through self-help mechanisms,” said TRS sector head Brian Mahuni.
POTRAZ has made strides in raising awareness of customer needs to service providers and also in broadening the scope of communication networks across the country, thanks to resources from the Universal Services Fund.
