By Taban Henry
Members of Parliament have discovered that MTN and Zain, the main telecom mobile operating companies in South Sudan are still paying their registration licenses to Sudan.
This was revealed during the presentation of the report of the standing specialized committee on finance and Economic planning on the fiscal year 2022/2023 budget in its third reading yesterday.
Speaking during the presentation of the fiscal budget, the chairperson for the specialized committee for Finance and Economic Planning, Changkuoth Bichock Reth said MTN and Zain being the main telecommunication operating companies in the Country are still remitting registration licenses fees to Sudan.
He disclosed that the registration licenses are valid until 2024 and 2027 respectively.
“The telecommunication sector plays an important role in fiscal and fiduciary process of the national economy. Its contribution to the national treasury surpasses traditional sectors and could only match with mining and petroleum sectors,” he said. “As such its importance cannot be underestimated. In today’s telecommunication operators in South Sudan, two major providers Zain and MTN dominate the sector plus new entry into the industry called Digital provider,” he said.
Bichock said the august house directs the NRA to collect BPT, Excise duties and VAT from MTN, Zain and Digital providers.
He stated that the house observed that information communication Technology Authority purchased the Gateway and the Kenyan Fibre Optics System which are installed and successfully operational.
“The House observes that revenue generated from the gateway billing system are determined by the volume of calls, where tariffs, security are monitored to give assessment of revenue accrued from the system,” Bichock cited.
The Finance committee chairperson further directed the Ministry of Finance and Planning to allocate funds for the NCA to purchase electronic equipment to connect to the global village.
“The house observes that the National Communication Authority collects 2% annually from telephone operators as corporate social Responsibility for the communities along the towers (mask). The House directs NCA to use this money for community development activities,” he explained.