Dar es Salaam, June 3 -- THE ongoing construction of the National ICT Broadband Backbone in phases will ultimately cut down the data and communication cost, Deputy Minister for Information, Communication and Information Technology, Engineer Kundo Mathew told the National Assembly on Friday.

Moreover, the general communication cost countrywide has decreased by 99 per cent, while for individual consumer, the airtime chargers has gone down from 147/- per minute in 2009 to 30/- in 2022.

The deputy minister gave the figures when answering a question from Mr Cosato Chumi (Mafinga-CCM) who wanted to know how the national ICT Broadband Backbone has facilitated to cut down the data and other communication charges.

He said the government is carr...