Fault at Orbital satellite Amos-5 disrupts services

 Kapembwa Simbao

Mobile communication service in a number of chiefdoms in the country has been disrupted following a major fault on the orbital satellite Amos-5 which services the 204 communication towers in chiefdoms around the country.

Communication and Transport Minister Kapembwa Simbao has told Parliament in a ministerial statement today that SpaceCom which operates the satellite has informed government through ZICTA that an unprecedented major fault occurred on the orbital satellite Amos-5.

He says the satellite is dysfunctional as a result of this fault, and that this means that the network to all 204 GSM sites in Zambia is down.

Mr. Simbao says in the immediate term and to ensure that communication is restored as soon as possible, government has through ZICTA engaged SpaceCom with a view to migrate the traffic for the 204 GSM sites to an alternative satellite.