The Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA), established by the TCRA Act No. 12 of 2003, is an independent Authority for the postal, broadcasting and electronic communications industries in the United Republic of Tanzania based in Mikocheni ward of Kinondoni DistrictofDar es Salaam Region. It merged the former Tanzania Communications Commission and the Tanzania Broadcasting Commission. The TCRA is accountable to the Communications and Technology Ministry. The Information Communication and Technology (ICT) sector reform in Tanzania is notable in that development was influenced by regional, political (national) and technological factors. Tanzania is one of the few African countries to liberalise the communications sector whereby the Converged Licensing Framework (CLF) is used as a key strategy, in terms of the Tanzania Communications Regulations. Since inception in 2003, the TCRA has issued a number of regulations to administer the sector, but still faces a number of challenges such as the roll-out of services to under-serviced rural areas.
The TCRA’s mandate is to regulate the postal, electronic communications and broadcasting industries in the United Republic of Tanzania, which includes:
promotion of effective competition and economic efficiency;
protecting the interests of consumers;
promoting the availability of regulated services
licensing and enforcing licence conditions of broadcasting, postal and Telecommunications operators;
establishing standards for regulated goods and services;
regulating rates and charges (tariffs);
managing the radio frequency spectrum;
monitoring the performance of the regulated sectors; and
monitoring the implementation of ICT applications.
The legislation that established the TCRA is the Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority Act of 2003.[2][non-primary source needed] The primary legislation governing the industries regulated by the TCRA is the Universal Communications Service Access Act of 2006.[3][non-primary source needed]
Policies that impact the functioning of the TCRA include:
The amalgamation of previous independent Postal, Telegraph and Telephone facilities in Tanganyika, Kenya and Uganda, to form the East Africa Post and Telegraph Company.
1948–1961
Increased cooperation led to the establishment of the East African High Commission.
1951
A small radio station was established, known as Sauti(Voice) ya Dar es Salaam.
1955
The British colonial government brought in new and more powerful transmitters, which covered not only Dar es Salaam, but also other regions. At that time the colonial government changed the name from Sauti ya Dar es Salaam to Tanganyika Broadcasting Services (TBS).
1956
The station changed its name from TBS to the Tanganyika Broadcasting Corporation (TBC).
1961–1967
The East African Common Services Organisation was established.
1965
The National Assembly passed a bill changing the name of the broadcaster from TBC to Radio Tanzania Dar es Salaam (RTD).
The East African Common Services Organisation is renamed the East African Common Services Corporation to be consistent with the commercial nature of the corporation.
1977
Divergent political activities in the member countries resulted in East African cooperation being halted. Each member country was required to establish a national organisation for postal, telecommunications and telegraph services.
Tanzania commences a telecommunications sector liberalization process. The TPTC was split into three separate entities, namely the Tanzania Posts Corporation, the Tanzania Telecommunications Company Limited (TTCL), and the Tanzania Broadcasting Commission (TBC). A regulator was established (TCC) and two operators, one responsible for postal, the other responsible for telecommunications services. The Communications Act of 1993 was introduced to govern the sector (excludes broadcasting).
The government established the national Television (TvT) at Mikocheni.
1999
Vodacom won the bid to operate Tanzania’s second GSM cellular network. Vodacom partnered with Tanzanian Planetel Communication Limited.
2002
Radio Tanzania Dar es Salaam and Televisheni ya Taifa merged to form a corporate body known as Tanzania Broadcasting Corporation (TBC) in Kiswahili Shirika la Utangazaji Tanzania (SuT) creating TBC Fm & TBC International on the radio side and TBC1, TBC2 and Tanzania Safari Channel on the TV side.
2003
A new Act, the Tanzania Communication Regulatory Authority of 2003 established the TCRA, a merger of the TCC and the Tanzania Broadcasting Commission
2004
The merger was implemented in 2004, although each media house remained with its name - RTD and TvT respectively.
According to the establishing Act No. 12 of 2003, the duties of TCRA include the following:
Promoting effective competition and economic efficiency;
Protecting the interest of consumers;
Protecting the financial viability of efficient suppliers;
Promoting the availability of regulated services to all consumers including low income, rural and disadvantaged consumers;
Enhancing public knowledge, awareness and understanding of the regulated sectors including: i. The rights and obligations of consumers and regulated suppliers; ii. The ways in which complaints and disputes may be initiated and resolved; and iii. The duties, functions and activities of the Authority.
Taking into account the need to protect and preserve the environment
The functions of TCRA according to its establishing Act No. 12 of 2003 (CAP .172) and the revision thereof (the Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority Act, CAP .172 R.E. 2017) include, among others, the following
To perform the functions conferred on the Authority by sector legislation, that is, to: i. issue, renew and cancel licences; ii. establish standards for regulated goods and regulated services; iii. establish standards for the terms and conditions of supply of the regulated goods and services; and iv. regulate rates and charges. v. make rules for carrying out the purposes and provisions of this Act and the sector legislation;
To monitor the performance of the regulated sectors in relation to: i. Levels of investment; ii. Availability, quality and standards of services; iii. The cost of services; iv. The efficiency of production and distribution of services, and v. Other matters relevant to the Authority;
To facilitate the resolution of complaints and disputes;
To take over and continue carrying out the functions of formerly the Tanzania Communications Commission and Tanzania Broadcasting Commission;
To disseminate information about matters relevant to the functions of the Authority; and
To consult with other regulatory authorities or bodies or institutions discharging functions similar to those of the Authority in the United Republic of Tanzania and elsewhere.
On the other hand, the Electronic and Postal Communications Act No. 3 of 2010 – CAP. 306 and the revision thereof, (the Electronic and Postal Communications Act, CAP. 306 R.E. 2017) further provides the main functions of TCRA to include:
Issuance of licenses and regulating electronic communications systems;
Issuance of Postal Licenses and to regulating provision of Postal Services;
Promoting fair competition and level play ground;
Issuance of electronic communication numbering and addressing;
Allocating, managing and regulating addresses and postcodes;
Managing and assigning the national radio frequency spectrum;
Establishing standards for technical equipment connected to a network;
Establishing central equipment identification register;
Establishing and maintaining subscribers’ database; and
The TCRA board chairperson and vice chairperson are appointed by the president of Tanzania, pursuant to section 7 (2) of the Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA) Act No. 12 under which TCRA was established.
In accordance with the provisions of clause 2.(2) of the First Schedule to the Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority Act No. 12 of 2003, the minister of communications, science and technology, after submission by the nominations committee, and a competitive selection procedure as per Section 13 (6) of the TCRA Act, appoints the remaining members of the TCRA Board.
With these appointments, and in accordance with the provisions of Section 7 (1) of the Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority Act No.12 of 2003, the seven members of the TCRA board are as follows:
Communications in Tanzania have often been very unreliable in the past. The mobile telephone services are usually available only in urban areas, although there are currently efforts to provide nationwide mobile phone coverage. Competition in Tanzania's telecommunication sector is expected to get stiffer after the country's regulatory authority licensed four more cellular phone service providers to bring the number to ten.
The TCRA has given mobile network operating licenses to five more companies, bringing the tally for the country to twelve. The country now has one of the highest ratios of licenses to potential customers in the world, although with a population penetration level of just 43%, there is space for new companies to grow. The five new entrants are MyCell, Egotel, Rural Netco, Smile and ExcellentCom. They are expected to enter the country's communication industry when the process to give them network facility licensees is completed," TCRA director-general John Nkoma told the Citizen newspaper.
TCRA published several consultative documents:
Consultation Document on Code of Ethics for Advertising and Sponsorship for Broadcasting Media.
Consultation Document on the Introduction of a New Licence Category of Closed User Group Network.
Public consultation document on Code of Practice for Community Broadcasting Services.
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority Act, 2003
