How To Make Ultra Cheap Calls In Harare

It’s not much of a secret really. So, no dear tech reader, you didn’t just stumble upon a telecoms hacking article. This is just in case you’ve been in a cave these past few weeks and haven’t been checking the print press.

TelOne has been aggressively advertising the availability of more capacity on their Huawei built CDMA platform this whole month. We’re not sure just how much capacity this is, but the calling rates are very attractive and you should consider it. For as little as US 5 cents a minute, you can call another TelOne line. Calls outside the network are US 18 cents, way cheaper than any of the rates offered by the mobile operators in the country.

But there’s some not so good news. The CDMA service is only available in the greater Harare, Chitungwiza and Ruwa.  There’s talk of expansion, but please don’t hold your breath.  Also note that calls to outside Harare TelOne numbers are charged at a trunk call rate determined by the number of kilometers outside Harare. The most is US 14 cents for destinations over 480km from Harare.

If you’re in any of the covered areas, here’s some piece of advice: Please rush and get yourself a CDMA phone and get connected. CDMA capacity, like all other telecoms access technologies, is a finite resource and you’re not the only one excited by this cost cutting opportunity here. We visited TelOne at their main post office in Harare today and confirmed availability.

Most business can use this opportunity to cut on call costs and it’s easy to see TelOne calls become the bulk of business calls made in Harare in the next few months.