The managing director of state-owned mobile operator NetOne, Reward Kangai is planning to punish US companies that use the voice over the internet (VoIP) and web based sms technologies by making them pay taxes.
Kangai is related to the late politburo member Kumbirai Kangai and if his motives prevail, Zimbabwe will become the only country in the world to encroach into the dynamic online business which is daily creating millionaires overnight.
Speaking in Victoria Falls, Kangai bemoaned the effect of social network applications such as Whatsapp, Viber, skype and others, saying they are eating into mobile network operators’ revenues while enjoying unfair competition as they do not pay tax.
Kangai told reporters at the recent Innovation Africa Digital Summit that the industry was full of “over the top” players who ride on existing infrastructure without paying taxes.
He said there was a need for government to come up with modalities that would allow locally run applications that would generate money for local companies.
“In this telecoms industry capital expenditure is very high and increasing because of demand for broadband services. We have to continuously upgrade our systems, which needs capital but you find there are some operators who get returns from use of our networks. Our revenues are going down because there are some clever over-the-top players who ride on our infrastructure for free and use our services for their benefit yet they don’t pay taxes,” said Kangai.
“We know that customers are enjoying all these services such as Whatsapp, Viber and others but what they don’t know is that they use our expenditure.”
He implored government to investigate the sector.
“There is a need for a consolidated approval from government because there has been no common position in dealing with this. This is why we are (looking at) having our own applications that can generate money even for the government through taxes,” he said.
NetOne, the country’s oldest mobile phone operator, is also the second biggest, with 3,3 million subscribers according to latest Potraz data.
The firm is working on a number of packages – one of them 4G service and expects a 50 percent increase in subscribers by the close of 2015, Kangai added.
19 Replies to “NetOne Boss Kangai Wants To Punish US Companies, Whatsapp, Viber, Facebook”
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Let these applications run in Zimbabwe,or roll out netone.Globle technology,if you fail to step yr business ahead then you hve to drop.
Let these applications run in Zimbabwe,or roll out netone.Globle technology,if you fail to step yr business ahead then you hve to drop.
Let these applications run in Zimbabwe,or roll out netone.Globle technology,if you fail to step yr business ahead then you hve to drop.
has it ever occured to this nincompoop that all NetOne has to do is to join, or roll out, similar products? this stone age mentality that you either ‘fix’ the competitors or ban them belongs in zanu pf, not to state resources. the mobile data industry is the fastest growing one globally and u cant ever stop them. surely this man is in the wrong job, give him a farm andorima! what a waste of human genes!
has it ever occured to this nincompoop that all NetOne has to do is to join, or roll out, similar products? this stone age mentality that you either ‘fix’ the competitors or ban them belongs in zanu pf, not to state resources. the mobile data industry is the fastest growing one globally and u cant ever stop them. surely this man is in the wrong job, give him a farm andorima! what a waste of human genes!
has it ever occured to this nincompoop that all NetOne has to do is to join, or roll out, similar products? this stone age mentality that you either ‘fix’ the competitors or ban them belongs in zanu pf, not to state resources. the mobile data industry is the fastest growing one globally and u cant ever stop them. surely this man is in the wrong job, give him a farm andorima! what a waste of human genes!
Here we go, Zimbabwe out with the begging bowl again.
Here we go, Zimbabwe out with the begging bowl again.
Here we go, Zimbabwe out with the begging bowl again.
Yeh, rubbish how are you planning on taking on with Whstsaap? Besides you are robbing people for their hard earned $. In US Internet is free for all , and we do not pay for things like Whstsaap, Skype, Google talk etc . Those things are free but you charge ppl for every download making millions of dollars and u still talking crap.. Shame on you , all u care about is ur deep pockets and forget about ppl who have made u rich to begin with. You think Mark Zukerburg cares about ppl like you blood suckers? What have done for Zimbabwean ppl who have made u rich?
Yeh, rubbish how are you planning on taking on with Whstsaap? Besides you are robbing people for their hard earned $. In US Internet is free for all , and we do not pay for things like Whstsaap, Skype, Google talk etc . Those things are free but you charge ppl for every download making millions of dollars and u still talking crap.. Shame on you , all u care about is ur deep pockets and forget about ppl who have made u rich to begin with. You think Mark Zukerburg cares about ppl like you blood suckers? What have done for Zimbabwean ppl who have made u rich?
Well said
Well said
Well said
Nonsense! when Econet started making people pay for these free American services there was a lot of furor over it Accusing it of all sorts, but Econet has foresight, unlike the Kangas who react rather that being proactive no wonder Masiyiwa is making millions! How do you intend to take on Whatsup when u cant even built a thousand dollar booster and u want to force others to share? Stop lying cause you dont have the know how and the financial muscle to do it just resort to charging people for use of your services for it maybe you might make extra cash! dofo nxaaaa
Nonsense! when Econet started making people pay for these free American services there was a lot of furor over it Accusing it of all sorts, but Econet has foresight, unlike the Kangas who react rather that being proactive no wonder Masiyiwa is making millions! How do you intend to take on Whatsup when u cant even built a thousand dollar booster and u want to force others to share? Stop lying cause you dont have the know how and the financial muscle to do it just resort to charging people for use of your services for it maybe you might make extra cash! dofo nxaaaa
These brood of vipers, they believe that the mobile networks are put for them to make money, while the majority suffer. Isn’t this Kangai guy one of the Cashberts. He was second from Cuthbert Dube on the list of highest paid parastatal executives.
These brood of vipers, they believe that the mobile networks are put for them to make money, while the majority suffer. Isn’t this Kangai guy one of the Cashberts. He was second from Cuthbert Dube on the list of highest paid parastatal executives.
These brood of vipers, they believe that the mobile networks are put for them to make money, while the majority suffer. Isn’t this Kangai guy one of the Cashberts. He was second from Cuthbert Dube on the list of highest paid parastatal executives.