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Airtel Zambia has been fined K5.2 million by the Zambia Information and Communication Technology Authority (ZICTA) for failing to issue a public apology to consumers within two hours of restoring service after a recent network outage.
Announcing the sanction at a press briefing in Lusaka on Friday, ZICTA Director General, Collins Mbulo, said Airtel also failed to resolve critical network faults within the required timeframe and did not notify ZICTA or consumers within one hour of the disruption, in breach of regulatory guidelines.
“These are serious breaches that undermine consumer trust and the integrity of our national telecommunications systems,” Mbulo said.
The penalty follows an investigation into Airtel’s incident report, with the Authority finding the company in violation of the Quality-of-Service Guidelines and Consumer Protection Code.
In addition to the K5.2 million consumer compensation, Airtel has been fined a further K828,000 for breaching specific provisions under the ICT regulatory framework.
To address future service disruptions, Mbulo disclosed that Airtel has committed to fast-tracking its three-year, $75 million network investment plan into a single year.
The plan includes deploying 400 new sites, upgrading all existing sites to 4G, adding 175 new 5G sites, and modernizing core network infrastructure by December 2025.
ZICTA would closely monitor the rollout to ensure Airtel meets its commitments and enhances service delivery.
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