Lloyd Gowera, Chief Technical Officer of the pioneer mobile phone service provider, TNM Plc, has said that the country's telecommunications companies do not have the capacity to listen in to people's phone calls -- which Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (MACRA) also agrees.
Gowera vouched MACRA's continued dismissal of this allegation on Monday at Sunbird Mount Soche in Blantyre during the launch of MACRA's stakeholders' Open Week, an interactive forum with operators and consumers -- whose main objective is to enhance its regulatory function.
During questions and answers (Q&A) session after speeches and presentations, when one stakeholder asked if the allegation is indeed true -- as the public has been made to believe following social media discussions -- MACRA Director General, Daud Suleman made an impromptu decision to ask Gowera to answer the question instead on behalf of the regulator and other mobile phone operators.
The chief technical officer, though ambushed, clearly articulated that if such an exercise was to be carried out, the telecommunications companies would know about it since it's in their space -- but he emphasized that they do not have such a capacity.
He hinted that the Western World, with their sophisticated digital system, would not be able to listen in to each and every call made by the public but only do so by law enforcement agencies in tracking high profile criminals and terrorists under their radar.
He also indicated that such an exercise, if they were able to, would even be more costly in as far as the high number of personnel needed to handle such a process.
He thus assured the public that they are free to carry out their phone call conversations without any fear that they are being listened to by MACRA or any other law enforcement agencies -- because that is not true.
Suleman himself said he also had several instances where he would make a regular phone call to someone, who in turn would refuse to continue with the conversation preferring using WhatsApp calls, saying they suspected they would be listened to.
"As TNM's chief technical officer has said, which is also the stand for Airtel Malawi, this task is impossible as we have always verified before," he said, alluding to what MACRA explained of the benefits of Revenue Assurance System (RAS) -- which some agents thought MACRA was intending to install a spying machine.
The RAS was first introduced in the country 10 years ago but it made MACRA go through court disputes over the project that made them to lose over US$20 million.
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The RAS project is now helping MACRA to collect data on how mobile and data operator are generating their revenues and remit the required percentage to MACRA and that call drops were difficult to handle against the mobile operators -- as the regulator was not able to have backing evidence before them.
With the RAS installation, MACRA will be able to have back up proof of call drops where customers are being charged on their call drops.
Meanwhile, MACRA Board chairperson, Bridget Chibwana emphasised that one of the core principles guiding the regulator's operations is transparency, saying: "Transparent regulatory processes build trust and confidence among stakeholders."
She added that through the Open Week, "MACRA is committed to ensuring that its actions and decisions are open to scrutiny and that stakeholders have a clear understanding of regulatory requirements and processes".
The Open Week, that extends to Lilongwe and Mzuzu, was presided over by Minister of Information & Digitalisation Moses Kunkuyu alongside Secretary for the Ministry, Baldwin Chiyamwaka and Chibwana said they have organised the Open Week "with the main objective of providing an interactive forum with operators and consumers in order for us to enhance our regulatory function".
"This MACRA Open Week provides us with a unique opportunity to engage directly with operators, consumers, and prospective licensees, thereby enhancing MACRA's regulatory functions and ensuring that our policies and practices address with the needs of all stakeholders at community, district and national levels."
