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NATIONAL Arts Council of Zimbabwe director, Mr Nicholas Moyo has called on internet service providers to reduce their tariffs for the survival of the arts sector as artists are relying solely on them during this difficult Covid-19 time.

As a result of the lockdown that has been ongoing from last year, artists have been relying heavily on virtual shows to connect with their audiences.

Most of the shows have been for free, but the problem has been the high data tariffs that artists could not afford to pay for in order to live-stream their shows. Some of their fans, on the other hand, could not afford to buy the data to watch the shows, leading to very low numbers being recorded for some of the virtual shows.

Mr Moyo said as an arts sector, they are calling for the reduction of data tariffs in order to make them affordable for everyone, artists included.

“The challenge in our country is the cost of consuming artwork digitally. Our data is expensive. I think we’re the most expensive in the region. At this time, it would be good if the internet service providers also come to the party,” said a concerned Mr Moyo.

He said in the same spirit that the renowned service providers give back to communities through various corporate social responsibility projects, it will be great to see them do something for the artists.

“It’s good for Econet to go and donate stuff and NetOne to renovate Mpilo, but we also think that these players can contribute to the betterment of our artists by reducing data tariffs.” – Chronicle/The Herald.