Tanzania has stated that it is not opposed to a unified East African telephone roaming scheme known as One Network Area (ONA), and the region’s second-largest economy is preparing to join the system aimed at lowering communication costs.
The EAC Roaming Framework, or ONA, was established in 2014 by the EAC partner states to lower communication tariffs throughout the six-nation union. According to the framework, this includes price limitations on roaming costs and abolishing surcharges on cross-border telecommunications traffic.
The framework already includes Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda, and South Sudan. Tanzania and Burundi are the only countries that have not yet joined the system. The system looks at both broadcasting and telecommunication issues. According to an EAC dispatch, the meeting under the broadcasting sector endorsed the nine critical areas listed in the Draft Guidelines for Harmonisation of Broadcasting Content Regulations. Local content, ownership, cross-media ownership, broadcasting service licensing, and advertising rules are among them. Other options include online broadcasting and the long-term viability of free-to-air television.
In terms of local content, the committee decided that broadcasting stations in the Partner States should use content created by local independent producers at least 10 per cent of the time and that the percentage of foreign content should not exceed 40 per cent.
On ownership, they decided that locals should hold the majority of shares in any broadcasting entity. The EAC urged countries that haven’t done so to establish a cohesive ministry and regulatory body or authority to handle broadcasting and telecommunications concerns.
