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The Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA), 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 based in Mikocheni ward of Kinondoni District of Dar es Salaam Region. 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 (ICT) sector reform in Tanzania is notable in that development was influenced by regional, political (national) and technological factors. Tanzania is one of the few African countries to liberalise the communications sector whereby the Converged Licensing Framework (CLF) 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.
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Agency overview | |
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Formed | 1 November 2003 |
Preceding agency |
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Jurisdiction | Tanzania |
Headquarters | Mawasiliano Towers, 20 Sam Nujoma Road, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania |
Agency executive |
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Website | www |
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.[2][non-primary source needed] The primary legislation governing the industries regulated by the TCRA is the Universal Communications Service Access Act of 2006.[3][non-primary source needed]
Policies that impact the functioning of the TCRA include:
The following history incorporates (i) regional and (ii) national developments in the sector and the establishment of the sector regulator.
1927 | Tanganyika joined the Customs Union between Kenya and Uganda. |
1933 | The amalgamation of previous independent Postal, Telegraph and Telephone facilities in Tanganyika, Kenya and Uganda, to form the East Africa Post and Telegraph Company. |
1948–1961 | Increased cooperation led to the establishment of the East African High Commission. |
1951 | A small radio station was established, known as Sauti(Voice) ya Dar es Salaam. |
1955 | The 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 (TBS). |
1956 | The station changed its name from TBS to the Tanganyika Broadcasting Corporation (TBC). |
1961–1967 | The East African Common Services Organisation was established. |
1965 | The National Assembly passed a bill changing the name of the broadcaster from TBC to Radio Tanzania Dar es Salaam (RTD). |
1967 | The establishment of the East African Community (EAC). |
1968 | The East African Common Services Organisation is renamed the East African Common Services Corporation to be consistent with the commercial nature of the corporation. |
1977 | Divergent 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. |
1978 | Tanzania established a parastatal, the Tanzania Posts and Telecommunications Corporation (TPTC) |
1993 | Tanzania commences a telecommunications sector liberalization process. The TPTC was split into three separate entities, namely the Tanzania Posts Corporation, the Tanzania Telecommunications Company Limited (TTCL), and the Tanzania Broadcasting Commission (TBC). A regulator was established (TCC) and two operators, one responsible for postal, the other responsible for telecommunications services. The Communications Act of 1993 was introduced to govern the sector (excludes broadcasting). |
1994 | Tanzania Telecommunications Company Limited (TTCL) officially commences operations. |
1999 | The government established the national Television (TvT) at Mikocheni. |
1999 | Vodacom won the bid to operate Tanzania’s second GSM cellular network. Vodacom partnered with Tanzanian Planetel Communication Limited. |
2002 | Radio Tanzania Dar es Salaam and Televisheni ya Taifa merged to form a corporate body known as Tanzania Broadcasting Corporation (TBC) in Kiswahili Shirika la Utangazaji Tanzania (SuT) creating TBC Fm & TBC International on the radio side and TBC1, TBC2 and Tanzania Safari Channel on the TV side. |
2003 | A new Act, the Tanzania Communication Regulatory Authority of 2003 established the TCRA, a merger of the TCC and the Tanzania Broadcasting Commission |
2004 | The merger was implemented in 2004, although each media house remained with its name - RTD and TvT respectively. |
According to the establishing Act No. 12 of 2003, the duties of TCRA include the following:
The functions of TCRA according to its establishing Act No. 12 of 2003 (CAP .172) and the revision thereof (the Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority Act, CAP .172 R.E. 2017) include, among others, the following
On the other hand, the Electronic and Postal Communications Act No. 3 of 2010 – CAP. 306 and the revision thereof, (the Electronic and Postal Communications Act, CAP. 306 R.E. 2017) further provides the main functions of TCRA to include:
The TCRA board chairperson and vice chairperson are appointed by the president of Tanzania, pursuant to section 7 (2) of the Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA) Act No. 12 under which TCRA was established.
In accordance with the provisions of clause 2.(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 (6) of the TCRA Act, appoints the remaining members of the TCRA Board.
With these appointments, and in accordance with the provisions of Section 7 (1) of the Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority Act No.12 of 2003, the seven members of the TCRA board are as follows:
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