We are coming from an event hosted by Econet Wireless where they launched 4G LTE in Zimbabwe. Econet’s fairly new Chief Commercial and Customer Services Officer, Stan Henning presented the new offering. He announced that Econet will start selling 4G dongles immediately after the UNWTO general assembly taking place this weekend.
The current 4G network
According to Henning the 4G network has already been installed and functional in some places in Zimbabwe. The locations, as shown in the image above, include international airports i.e. Harare, Bulawayo and Victoria Falls plus the CBDs of Harare and Bulawayo and the town of Victoria Falls. Although the modems will only be available in Victoria Falls this week for the UNWTO, distribution in the other areas will start one week after the UNTWO assembly.
Citing this to be first in Zimbabwe, Henning said the network speeds of the 4G devices can go up-to 65Mbps, which is 10 times faster than the current 3G (3.5G as he put it) and require 95% less time to connect. Though the data tariffs for the service are said to be similar to that of 3G, the prices of the 4G dongles and modems have not yet been set.
Econet have promised to send us some 4G dongles for testing and we will be posting a review as soon as we’re able to.
39 comments
now that’s worth making noise about
hope t comes with an unlimited plan tifare chaizvo
Pretty awesome but without game changing tariffs or unlimited data plans as you mentioned (from Econet…? He- hehe… kwaaaahahahaha! *ahem, regaining composure*) it’s not as attractive as it could be.
The game is truly changing now…
You will need a suitable device to make use of most of the technology. If your phone doesnt support 4G LTE you will not feel the difference. However if you have Samsung Galaxy S4, Galaxy Note 11, Sony Xperia Z, and Tablets such as Ipad 4 and Samsung Tab 10.1 then you can enjoy the great speeds, Be reminded to be careful with Econet crazy rates!!
Please note that having those mentioned devices does not guarantee you LTE, unless expressly stated. And with every device that does actually support LTE, it has to be in the 1800MHz band in order to work with Econet
It is also fair to assume that Econet won’t just hit aimlessly in the market. Remember most people have this Android bloatwares and definitely the band has to be matched to these.
That is good news.
Can anyone tell me how this will impact Iphone’s with 4G capability, currently using 3G?
I will get excited after they announce reasonable prices for the dongles, better tariffs than their current ones and uncapped access.
Random LTE test
That’s just awesome! but I’m not holding my breath for a jaw dropping data price drop from you-know-who.
Can you test that against a server in another country?
Wow…faster than 95% of Zim…Who on earth is in that other 5% ??!?
This is the best news so far… Checking my Note II
Not so lucky with an N7100 model no LTE 🙁
YEs, I can confirm Msasa yakati tii!!! Bn there for a while too,..
You see the thing with these speeds is that they are theoretical, i am not really excited 3g is supposed to be fast but somehow its terribly slow here in Zim.. So guys id say dont hold your breaths yet,
I agree, i wouldnt hold my breath either. its all theory and cheap talk-typical econet style
Thats good news, I also want to see some tariff slash on data
the only way this becomes attractive is idf econet reduces the tarriffs. cz rgt nw using edge speeds econet data costs too much. so not even exciting know your market econet people care more about prices than they do about speeds.
Great news for Zim internet! But if the tarrifs resemble the 3G tarrifs, then people will be better off with 3G. What will be the point of being able to hit 65mbps if all that will cost you is probably $50 of data an hour! And imagine connecting with an LTE modem and forgeting to suspend your windows/av updates!..By the time you notice the updates will be done and your bundles will be done too!
This is what a Big Brother does. Dont waste time in petty tarrif wars with Telecel and Netone. Lets have value adding products that are accessible to a cross section of customers. Most OEMs are currently focusing on producing LTE enabled devices and we must not be left behind. Unfortunately my iphone 5 hasnt yet picked it up yet. Am in Bulawayo.
Ya, but with speeds like that, data prices will have to come down, or else the service will barely be usable… the faster the speed, the quicker the $$$s disappear… hint hint Econet!!!!
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