Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority


The Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority, established by the TCRA Act No. 12 of 2003, is an independent Authority for the postal, broadcasting and electronic communications industries in the United Republic of Tanzania. It merged the former Tanzania Communications Commission and the Tanzania Broadcasting Commission. The TCRA is accountable to the Communications and Technology Ministry. The Information Communication and Technology sector reform in Tanzania is notable in that development was influenced by regional, political and technological factors. Tanzania is one of the few African countries to liberalise the communications sector whereby the Converged Licensing Framework is used as a key strategy, in terms of the Tanzania Communications Regulations. Since inception in 2003, the TCRA has issued a number of regulations to administer the sector, but still faces a number of challenges such as the roll-out of services to under-serviced rural areas.

Mandate and Purpose

The TCRA’s mandate is to regulate the postal, electronic communications and broadcasting industries in the United Republic of Tanzania, which includes:
The legislation that established the TCRA is the Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority Act of 2003. . The primary legislation governing the industries regulated by the TCRA is the Universal Communications Service Access Act of 2006 .
Policies that impact the functioning of the TCRA include:
The following history incorporates regional and national developments in the sector and the establishment of the sector regulator.
1927Tanganyika joined the Customs Union between Kenya and Uganda.
1933The amalgamation of previous independent Postal, Telegraph and Telephone facilities in Tanganyika, Kenya and Uganda, to form the East Africa Post and Telegraph Company.
1948–1961Increased cooperation led to the establishment of the East African High Commission.
1951A small radio station was established, known as Sauti ya Dar es Salaam.
1955The British colonial government brought in new and more powerful transmitters, which covered not only Dar es Salaam, but also other regions. At that time the colonial government changed the name from Sauti ya Dar es Salaam to Tanganyika Broadcasting Services.
1956The station changed its name from TBS to the Tanganyika Broadcasting Corporation.
1961–1967The East African Common Services Organisation was established.
1965The National Assembly passed a bill changing the name of the broadcaster from TBC to Radio Tanzania Dar es Salaam.
1967The establishment of the East African Community.
1968The East African Common Services Organisation is renamed the East African Common Services Corporation to be consistent with the commercial nature of the corporation.
1977Divergent political activities in the member countries resulted in East African cooperation being halted. Each member country was required to establish a national organisation for postal, telecommunications and telegraph services.
1978Tanzania established a parastatal, the Tanzania Posts and Telecommunications Corporation
1993Tanzania commences a telecommunications sector liberalization process. The TPTC was split into three separate entities, namely the Tanzania Posts Corporation, the Tanzania Telecommunications Company Limited, and the Tanzania Broadcasting Commission. A regulator was established and two operators, one responsible for postal, the other responsible for telecommunications services. The Communications Act of 1993 was introduced to govern the sector.
1994Tanzania Telecommunications Company Limited officially commences operations.
1999The government established the national Television at Mikocheni.
1999Vodacom won the bid to operate Tanzania’s second GSM cellular network. Vodacom partnered with Tanzanian Planetel Communication Limited.
2002Radio Tanzania Dar es Salaam and Televisheni ya Taifa merged to form a corporate board known as Tanzania Broadcasting Services in Kiswahili Taasisi ya Utangazaji Tanzania.
2003A new Act, the Tanzania Communication Regulatory Authority of 2003 established the TCRA, a merger of the TCC and the Tanzania Broadcasting Commission
2004The merger was implemented in 2004, although each media house remained with its name - RTD and TvT respectively.

Structure and Functions

Duties of TCRA

The duties of the TCRA are provided in section 5 of the Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority Act No.12 of 2003:
Promoting effective competition and economic efficiency;

Protecting the interest of consumers;

Protecting the financial viability of efficient suppliers;

Promoting the availability of regulated services to all consumers including low income, rural and disadvantaged consumers;

Enhancing public knowledge, awareness and understanding of the regulated sectors including -

Taking into account the need to protect and preserve the environment.

Functions

The functions of the TCRA are provided in section 6 of Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority Act No.12 of 2003

To perform the functions conferred on the Authority by sector legislation;

subject to sector legislation –

to monitor the performance of the regulated sectors including in relation to –

To facilitate the resolution of complaints and disputes;

To take over and continue carrying out the functions formerly of the Tanzania Communications Commission and Tanzania Broadcasting Commission.

Board Members

The TCRA Board Chairperson and Vice Chairperson are appointed by the President of the United Republic of Tanzania, pursuant to Section 7 of the Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority Act No. 12 under which TCRA was established.
In accordance with the provisions of Clause 2. of the First Schedule to the Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority Act No. 12 of 2003, the Minister of Communications, Science and Technology, after submission by the Nominations Committee, and a competitive selection procedure as per Section 13 of the TCRA Act, appoints the remaining members of the TCRA Board.
With these appointments, and in accordance with the provisions of Section 7 of the Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority Act No.12 of 2003, the seven members of the TCRA Board are as follows:
To execute its functions, the Authority is divided into five Departments namely:-
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