Click Here & Upgrade PDF Complete Expanded Features Unlimited Pages Documents operator on the market. One of the results of the liberalisation of the telecommunications sub-sector has been the accelerated development of mobile telephony. The most evident market difference between mobile and fixed line services is that, worldwide, mobile communications is growing much more rapidly in rollout and access. In 2002, few years after introduction of mobile communication in Zambia, the number of mobile subscribers surpassed the fixed-line (ZAMTEL) subscribers and is still growing for the following reasons: a) There is unfulfilled demand for service in both urban and rural areas; b) Mobile networks can be installed more rapidly than fixed lines; c) Pre-paid mobile cellular service allows users to obtain services where they may not normally qualify for a fixed or mobile post-paid service because of their low or irregular income and/or lack of fixed-abode; d) Users find the functionality of mobile phones extremely useful; compared to fixed Lines; and e) Mobile technology infrastructure is less susceptible to vandalism The current combined subscriber base on the mobile networks stands at about 450,000 in just 5-8 years surpassing 90,000 fixed line subscribers that have been achieved over many years. However, the majority of the subscribers are along the line of rail. Currently all provincial centres are covered by at least one of the cellular network providers. On the other hand, fixed line growth is expected to slow down in the near future mainly due to the flexibility and convenience of mobile communication. However, the source of future growth for fixed lines will be due to the demand for faster and cheaper Internet access. Organisations and individuals may increasingly opt for mobile phones and retain fixed-line primarily for Internet access and other value-added services. This may only happen when mass-market broadband technologies take root in the country. Internet Service Providers Zambia is the pioneer of Internet in Sub-Sahara Africa outside South Africa in the early 90s. However, this advantage has not been exploited in that the country now lags behind many African countries that started Internet services just a few years ago. However, the Internet sub-sector is fully liberalised and is one of the most competitive in the ICT services industry in Zambia. The CAZ has so far licensed a number of players out of which six (6) are operational by 2004 from two (02) in 1996. The Internet market in Zambia is still developing with approximately 12,000 Internet subscribers and an additional 30,000 Internet users mainly patronising Internet cafes. However, the potential for rapid growth is undermined by inadequate telecommunication infrastructure development across the country, poor telephony accessibility and high access costs. Though there are no market entry restrictions for new ISPs, the licensing fee has proven prohibitive to many Zambians. Secondly, the limit on foreign shareholding for ISPs 10