Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Minister Emma Theofelus informed the National Assembly that Telecom Namibia has started the process to overhaul most of its overworked and oldest equipment to improve network service.

Theofelus was responding to Popular Democratic Movement (PDM) MP Diederik Vries, who raised concerns about constant service disruptions and low internet speed.

Theofelus indicated that Telecom Namibia has begun with a mobile core upgrade by swapping the firewall at the heart of the mobile network for a high-capacity model, as well as the installation of modern routers.

"We also introduced a more international capacity where we actually had the Equiano cable. So first we had only one cable, which is the Western African cable system, the Wix undersea cable, which gives us traffic but also gives traffic to our neighbouring countries, Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe, which are landlocked. In July 2022, Telecom and Paratus worked together to then land the second cable, which is sort of the Google cable, the Equiano cable, which has a capacity of 100 gigabytes per second of links onshore. So there's actually breathing room from the current Wix cable to the Equiano cable, so they can share capacity and traffic."

The minister says they have random inspections at various centres to ensure that the download speeds and upload speeds are equal to what the licence indicates to Telecom.

She added that when there are major fault hits, the Communications Regulatory Authority of Namibia is informed to take the necessary actions to compel the operator to fix the faults.

"We have quarterly engagements with every entity. Like I said, Telecom is almost on a weekly basis. But with every entity that falls under the Minister of ICT, they meet every two months with the ED and every three months with the Minister. So that way, we try to sort out problems before they even arise or even before they become bigger."