15 Universal ICT Access 15.1 Policy Statement: Universal Access to ICT Services a) Drive the goal to achieve universal access to ICT services by all citizens. b) Increase ICT access in rural and disadvantaged sections of the population. c) Review the current USF mandate and application framework to align the entire process with the Ministry of ICTPCS Policy goals. For instance, the fund and programs should cover applications and content development. d) The USF and programs should prioritise the technologies, infrastructure and systems to provide the cheapest means of communication to communities and cater for disaster management e) The USF programs should be aligned with the policy implementation plans. f) The Universal Services Fund must be a stand-alone entity to ensure its mandate is not clouded with that of regulation. 16 Investments and Funding 16.1 Policy Statement: Attract Investment and Funding into the ICT Sector a) Collaborate with relevant ministries and agencies to create policies and incentives for foreign direct investment (FDI) and domestic investment in ICT. b) Create attractive investment policies in the ICT sector, including facilitation of Public Private Partnerships (PPPs), especially in infrastructure development. c) Develop policies and programs that enable foreigners that bring specified amounts of ICT investment to be provided citizenship. 17 Convergence The e-SADC framework (Luanda, 2010) addresses convergence issues and harmonization of ICT infrastructure, services and indicators, promotes ICT usage for regional economic integration, enhancement of connectivity and access to ICT services. Evidence abounds that convergence is occurring at the technological, applications and services level. The current Zimbabwean legal and regulatory framework, places a lot of emphasis on technology in relation to the licensing of operators, is lagging behind technological developments thereby rendering it extremely difficult for telecommunications operators to seamlessly undertake their business. There is de facto as opposed to de jure convergence. Zimbabwe is a member State of SADC, the AU and ITU and fully participates in all their activities. It is therefore important that Zimbabwe should not lag behind when it comes to 32