Civil servants have reason to rejoice as they can now buy Samsung and Huawei devices on contract and also get free Whatsapp for 24 months. All civil servants need to do is go to Econet shops with their ID, Staff ID, Current Payslip and Proof of residence and they’ll be good to go.
The phones on offer
Well, the deal is only available for two phones; the Samsung J110 (3G) and Huawei Y3 Lite. The devices will cost $14.34 and $14.05 each month respectively. The smartphones themselves are pretty basic but I don’t think that will bother many people as the main consideration most seem to make when buying a smartphone is if it is Whatsapp compatible.
Speaking of Whatsapp…
The clincher for me is the fact that the phone will come with free Whatsapp for 24 months. A whole two years of Whatsapp seems like an enticing deal that will definitely pull a lot of people towards this package. We’ve talked about Whatsapp dominating internet usage in the country and because of this, the deal on offer may resonate with many. One caveat though is the fact that the Whatsapp bundle will not be entirely unlimited but actually a monthly bundle. It does make the offer less enticing but I don’t think it will be too much of a problem
Econet offering more and more services for Civil servants
It seems Econet are really trying to offer a wide range of services to civil servants. Econet’s Media subsidiary Kwese also introduced a package specific to Kwese. The Kwese deal is also a 24-month deal and if both these contracts might bring in a respectable amount of revenue if the civil servants respond to them positively.
OneTech left in the dust? Not really…
Last year NetOne launched a similar service called OneTech, even though the contracts are a much shorter 12 months. The OneTech device, however, is not an exclusive deal for civil servants and offers many more devices from the as low as $18 to as high as $230. The device selection is much broader as well so if you are not a civil servant you may want to check that out.
While stocks last…
Econet also launched a competitor to OneTech just after OneTech’s launch so it makes sense that the new smartphone financing program is only targeting civil servants. The deal for civil servants is only a ‘while stocks last deal’ which makes it hard to compare this to other more strategic smartphone-financing deals.
7 comments
Anyone who accepts such a deal needs to have their head examined. Assuming the Y3 Lite is being sold at the lower 14 that will translate to $336 in 24 months. Ok since we are being given “free” Whatsapp which comes at $3/month that works out to $72 a month. Leaving $236 for the device with Android 6, 1GB of RAM, 8GB of ROM which will become yours in 2020. This is a stupid deal even GTel has better deals that this. Econet is looking to offload it’s old devices by tricking gullible civil servants with the prospect of “free” Whatsapp. My advice go to GTel and get a better deal even if you have to pay for your own Whatsapp.
Could not quite follow your mathematics, though.
but.., but whatsapp is free anyway,or except maybe only in Zimbabwe! Whatsapp is owned by facebook and is a completely free app. Whatsapp is meant to transmit its data through the TCP/IP network hence that again is free. This only changes if one chooses to use the data networks (mobile masts). Econet are trying to make money from nothing and that’s plainly disgraceful.
I live in Zambia, whaastap is not free. This fella wants tp bring politics where it’s not needed. Go go Econet go we are behind u. He says whaatsapis free everywhere, it’snot free, it’s only tgat wi fi is everywhere hence he thinks whaastap is free. Poor u !
Idiot! you say Whatsapp is free because it transmits data through the TCP/IP network?? what are you smoking? Do you know what else transmits data through the TCP/IP network? Youtube, Facebook, Spotify, Onedrive, Skype…Are they free? even if you are using FTTH are they free just because of TCP/IP?
How does it become necessary to call another person “idiot”?
Garikai me and you both know how much devices cost outside through online shopping…. The terms here are to harsh… But believe or not the civil servants will queuing… No matter anyone says