FSAU (the Fundo do Servico de Acesso Universal), the Mozambique government’s Universal Access Service Fund, has launched projects to improve connectivity in ten locations.
The projects are in the provinces of Maputo, Gaza, Inhambane, Sofala, Zambezia, Nampula and Niassa. According to press reports the scheme will mean that broadband with speeds of at least 20 Mbps will be provided at each of the 27 sites that will be installed in the 10 districts.
The country’s regulator, the Autoridade Reguladora das Comunicacoes, has been quoted as saying that the deployment will benefit businesses, farmers, start-ups and other sectors of the community. The FSAU is financed by a one percent levy on operators’ annual gross revenues.
A team recently visited a number of districts to carry out an initial survey of their potential and to hold meetings with representatives of district governments, as well as city officials and businessmen.
The government of Mozambique has been keen to show its commitment to expanding the telecom sector, injecting capital into the sector through FSAU, a fund that was created to finance telecommunication programmes and projects to ensure universal access to telecommunication services.
Last year Mozambique’s Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Transport and Communications noted that the proportion of the Mozambican population reached by telecommunication services had expanded from 65 percent in 2014 to 85 percent in late 2019.