Under the onslaught of never-ending steep promos from the competition, Econet has today finally announced the a serious slash of mobile tariffs in a move that can only be described as taking the fight to the competition. The tariff slash is, according to the announcement, by as much as 60%. On mobile tariffs it’s the one move the company can genuinely claim to be a first in Zimbabwe. And a move that will likely kick the competition into a price slash too, and finally, after 4 years or expensive telephony, Zimbabweans get some relief.
Voice calls across networks have been slashed by the operator from 25 cents per minute to 10 cents per minute. Econet to Econet calls will have opportunities for an even lower tariff via the Econet Buddie zone promo which discounts calls by optimising network infrastructure resources available when subscribers make calls. According to Econet, Buddie Zone calls will be discounted by up to 90% which will see subscribers pay as low as a 1 cent a minute for a call.
Econet slashing tariffs is a big deal with big repercussions on everyone in Zimbabwe. The company has over 8 million mobile subscribers, which is close to 70% of Zimbabwe’s total population. Needless to say, they account for the majority of mobile voice and data traffic in the country.
Here’s the full announcement:
Econet Wireless, Zimbabwe’s largest telecoms company, has slashed the cost of calls to other networks by a massive 60%, the deepest tariff cut ever introduced on the market.
Econet said the new tariff was “unconditional” and would be “effective immediately on all packages and at all times of the day.”
In a statement, Econet Wireless CEO Mr Douglas Mboweni said that all Econet customers would now also enjoy Buddie Zone tariffing with discounts of up to 90%.
Mr Mboweni said: “Econet will mount an extensive campaign to show that it not only has the cheapest tariffs but it also has the best value for money. Our tariffs are unconditional and we do not ask you to buy something extra or spend so much to get something. When we give, we give. We are not the largest operator by accident. Our customers know that the value that we give them in terms of coverage, network quality, services, products and tariffs cannot be matched.”
Mr Mboweni dismissed the notion that his company was afraid of competition.
“We have the cheapest tariffs and it will remain that way. We have the best coverage and we will continue to broaden it. We also have the largest range of products and services and we will keep investing and introducing more,” said Mr Mboweni.
Announcing the tariff slash to followers on their Facebook page, Econet gave a side jab to the one company that has been causing them headaches these past few months: “no mega deal can match that“!
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35 comments
I just hope making calls with from econet to econet or network remains smooth. From experience, if I am texting or calling from econet, my call goes through with first attempt. On the other hand with telecel it has been different, you have to ignore the not available instances and keep trying until you get through, text message success rate comes maybe at the second or third attempt. So I hope lowering down tariffs will not get us back to the zimdollar ere where it was cheap to buy airtime but difficult to get a call or message through.
this is huge.
Up to 90% discount for econet to econet still means that the discount can be a measly 0%, and 80% of the time this is the discount you would get (0%). Have they reduced the econet to econet standard tariff from 0.23 USD? Or we just cross our fingers and hope to get above 60% discounts…
“Have they reduced the econet to econet standard tariff from 0.23 USD?”
Is it me that didn’t read the article?
this promo is a scam, econet to econet tariffs still remain the same and buddie zone has always been there offering 0% discount under normal hours so with 100% of my contacts being econet subscribers i am not even excited about this………… give us something better econet, you have the capacity!!!!!!!
I just checked their Facebook page and people are furious because they just announced but tariffs haven’t changed. It will be a good move but as a professional company why do they have to lie to their clients when they haven’t effected the change. One comment on facebook by one furious customer stated that “I called the call centre and was advised that it applies on Econet to Econet”. Econet also responded and said please inbox us. Why inbox when we all need to hear your response.
Please Econet step to the competition realistically and be professional and don’t mislead us
Here is the link to their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/econetzimbabwe?ref=ts&fref=ts
YOU ARE LYING I HAVE JUS TRIED CALLING,THE NEW TARIFFS ARE EFFECTED
OK now Econet is starting to act like a real Buddie. Thumbs up!
I long to see the day when data prices get slashed too!!
I mean it costs us an arm and a leg to use data especially if you use a Smartphone e.g the big Galaxy Note 2 or so and you constantly need to be synced to services in real-time like Gmail, Whatsapp, Twitter, Instagram, etc…
I use literally 2GB (R250 on VC) each month on data on my N2 but scaling back on some services as my battery gets depleted quickly(hate waling around with my cables everytime). At $35 on 1GB, I say you better have a strong deep pocket everymonth!
$35 for 1Gb is a rip off… Only in Zim do you get this ridiculousness.
you too sound like abused women(or men) who just cant leave an abusive relationship. hahaha move over to Telecel bby. and ‘dont even get started on the ‘you are probably a telecel employee reply’. just telling someone like it is.
True that boss… We should at least have the option to get like 2Gb at reasonable prices, like say $15 bucks… Smartphone sales will boom and the companies will start making big bucks.
Problem is once you reduce data prices and your network is not ready, you are screwed. Ask Cell C…
Its going down!!!! Where is Netone in this corporate game? or are they just a onlooking victim of the game they ought to be a player. Waiting for something whacky from them stating that rate reduced to 5c (and a jab on mega deals and econet deals). I knew this was coming…..ievitable coz the industry is saturating
Oh my friend we still a long way from saturation! They will one day change all their operating models, that’s when saturation would have hit in. For now they are still cozy and the customer is not yet king…
Dear Techzim,
As much as I enjoy reading you website from time to time, I would suggest you guys proof read articles before posting them. Its a bit wack to bump into spelling errors and makes it seem as though the article was written in a rush.
Rushing to the weekend me thinks…
At this rateby end of next year 2014 one of the GSM operators either will fold up mostly likely the other 2 unless they come up with other VAS beyond just voice.
This is how. Voice revenues are already dwindling but the costs of maintaining and running the networks remain the same.
This was long over due coz someone has been over charging for a very long time and it is coming to a stop. Why ? Mobile penetration can not stretch beyond 12 million subscribers.
It will just be a question of subscribers hopping from one network to another based on cheaper calling rates.
Econet move is meant to kill off any attempts by the players from grabbing its customers.
Good war where customer wins ! Where are you NetOne ?
Its just a game of mathematics. Will see who will make the most profit out of all this????
I think number porting should be introduced. But then again I think Econet will push to not have it in place till they have maximized their profits.
“not bad”
I take this time to thank TELECEL for forcing “ours truly” out of his Comfort zone
??
knowing econet they could “recalibrate” the billing system….like take a few seconds of your talk, time. which will cumulatively recoup what they stand to lose. #just a conspiracy lol. truth is voice is in reality now cheaper worldwide.
Lol did you now it is cheaper to call UK/US from SA than to call Zim? Or some LOCAL destinations in SA? Now how more weird can this call tariff war we seeing brewing get?
A few days ago you wrote Econet launches underwhelming $1 for 10 free minutes service Now all of a sudden it seems the same thing under a different name is the ‘Mama’
Install Viber and do away with these thieves. Viber imore faya!
Calling Zim from SA is a reap off, but with viber, mahara.
Ndatenda hangu
when is this starting? i just called econet to econet and got charged 23c as usual!
PER-SECOND BILLING PLEASE! Who is gonna be the first to give us this? Happy to see Econet finally being reasonable, but what I really wanna see is per-second billing. What are all the networks waiting for???
Dude, the mobile networks have all been using per second billing for years – including a reluctant Econet; Do you actually live in Zim?
So why do you need to be insulting about it? Its not like its a widely advertised thing. And if you ask most people in Zim they, they don’t know that.
It wasn’t my intention to be insulting and even though you took it that way it probably has little to do with my comment. Per-second-billing is not a widely advertised thing because it’s old news and standard in Zim. Even if you missed it, it’s the kind of thing one should notice fairly quickly unless you’re completely oblivious to your communication expenses. Did you actually ask “most people in Zim”? 😛
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