We are past debating the benefits of making information and communication more affordable and accessible for the economy. No one is arguing the contrary anymore, not in words, but our actions and policies tell a different story.
For a long time Zimbabweans, weary under the exorbitant internet access charges prevailing in the country cried out for the powers that be to license new players. The reasoning being that the current players were robbing us blind.
This thinking usually neglects to consider whether we actually have suitors. Zimbabwe is not the easiest economy to operate in, which is the understatement of the year. So, it might just be that we were getting what we were getting because it was what the economy could allow for.
Except we know that’s not the case. Let me jog your memory with this quote from then ICT Minister Supa Mandiwanzira. He let the cat out the bag back in 2016,
If government did not want EcoCash or Econet to be the largest we would have opened our gates for Safaricom to come and operate M-Pesa in this market. We could have allowed MTN to set up in this market and offer the services that Econet offers. And I can assure you they come with a huge pocket to dwarf any player in this market and they have been knocking on our doors. But we have kept them closed because we want to protect them [Econet].
You can read the original article here to get the context of his remarks.
Now, we always have to take statements made by politicians with a little scepticism. However, in that statement the government essentially told us that they indeed blocked foreign players from coming into the market. Whether that was to protect Econet is more debatable. I would argue it was to protect the parastatals that compete in the space.
So, if you ever felt Econet or EcoCash were predatory, you had the government to thank for that. To be fair, there are a lot of legitimate reasons why the government would want to protect our own companies. We all agree with some protectionist stances to some degree.
However, the government seems to have changed course. They are no longer willing to protect Econet or any other local company anymore.
The licensing of multiple players
In the Postal and Telecomminications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe’s Q1 report, the Director General says,
On a more positive note, the prospects for effective competition are gaining traction as evidenced by the number of licence applications received for various licences under the converged licensing regime. Accordingly, we envisage a significant increase in the number of operators, which is set to enhance competition in the sector, spurred by a high appetite for innovative digital services. Indeed, the sector is set for increased investment, competition, and innovation, …
The converged licensing regime he is talking about introduced a new licensing model where operators can offer a variety of services under a single license, rather than obtaining separate licenses for each service. This makes it easier for new players to enter the market because the cost of obtaining multiple licences was just too high.
Fun fact – this converged licensing thing kicked off in 2016, around the same time the then ICT minister was telling Econet that they had protected them in the past. That seems to be borne out on this evidence. When Econet, rightly in most people’s opinion, complained about being forced to share infrastructure, that very year the converged licence became a thing.
A number of applicants took advantage of this and the likes of Dolphin Telecom (who we’ll be talking about soon) got their start.
The question then becomes, ‘If the converged licence is not a new thing, how come Potraz says this time around they envisage a significant increase in the number of operators?’
Why now?
We won’t know exactly why now but there are a few factors that jump out. The first is just to acknowledge that although its still Zanu PF in charge, we have different personnel in charge from the highest office to the ICT Minister’s desk. I know it’s mostly the same personnel, just shuffled around, but you get the point.
You can debate how genuine or effective it is, but the ‘Zimbabwe is open for business’ mantra is something that exists now. We know that on the ground, the door is not as open as it should be but a crack is better than nothing.
So, this means we can conclude that the government is no longer actively protecting Econet (again, he probably meant NetOne and Telecel) by blocking foreign or domestic players from entering the arena.
So that’s one side of the puzzle answered for – the government is no longer as protectionist as it was.
Something we will have to consider in a different article is what this means about the government’s thoughts on NetOne and Telecel ever being up to the task. This seems like a quiet admission that Econet needs proper competition and it’s going to have to come from elsewhere.
However, that doesn’t answer why now in 2024 and not before. We don’t know why Potraz is more likely to license operators now.
However, it just might be that there are more applications now. Potraz did say “the prospects for effective competition are gaining traction as evidenced by the number of licence applications received for various licences under the converged licensing regime.”
Why are operators applying now?
We will have to talk to these applicants to know why. Is it that the country’s economic outlook is that bright? Is it that the word finally got out that converged licences are a thing now?
What we know for certain is that there is huge growth potential in digital services. Zimbabwe is still analog to a high degree and there is appetite for digitalisation in the market. We saw how the ICT sector saw this much growth in Q1 2024, mostly driven by internet usage growth:
- Mobile Network Operators – 65.6%
- Internet Access Providers – 63.43%
So, who wouldn’t want a piece of that action? It could be that certain factors are just aligning at this point in Zimbabwe for many to take a crack at it. Public awareness, ability to afford and use and strong demand may have attracted many applicants.
Or it could just be that there are new and exciting technologies that allow applicants to enter the space with lower capital. We have talked a lot about Starlink and the low-earth orbit satellite technology which did not exist back when the government was protecting Econet.
Whatever the case, we are excited to see what the new applicants will bring to the table. The sector has sorely needed competition and it looks like we are about to get it.
38 comments
It’s a welcome development that a number of new operators are applying, however as long as Zanu Pf is still in power there won’t be much of a change in terms of service pricing
I think that’s the right attitude. We should expect zilch. That way if nothing comes of this, as happens most times, we won’t be disappointed.
Funny because at one time seemed Supa was Minister of Econet Affairs. He came to the office every morning to find ways to frustrate Econet. Almost seemed personal.
Rbrrtth ttb
The sudden open door policy is a way to cover up for the StarLink rushed deal. It’s nothing more than that. You might find that after taking the applications someone will be made to sit on them forever whilst their preferred IMC covers much ground. We connected Econet base stations to fibre optic way back around 2011/2012 and we had problems trying to get the backbone past some Zanu-PF run councils that to connect Mutare, Liquid (read Econet) had to enter into a secret deal with ZESA behind Big Brother’s back to string it on the pylons. The deal involved Econet buying ZESA some vehicles to use for maintenance of the electricity infrastructure. Big Brother only realised that he had been dribbled past when the fibre cable was dropped in Mutare and he was livid but couldn’t do anything because the MDC run municipality gave the nod to trench! I know you can still see ZESA branded vehicles at Liquid Intelligent Technologies at Highglen and wonder what they are doing there.
So I’m buying this initiative with a pinch of salt. The devil will be in the small print or a chosen few party functionaries without even an email address will get the licenses for free and real ICT companies will be forced to rent those.
Thank you for insight on the hidden information
Propaganda news frm POTRAZ
Ko Dolphin yainzi yapiwa licence years ago what happened to tht company & th other tht was said to hev been licenced ini ndri Thomas ndobeliever ndaona maline ava kutengeswa I don’t hev confidence wth these govt parasites sorry wanted to say parastatals.
From 2022 been trying to understand the MVNO or Dolphin 🐬 thing to be precise but still can’t understand it
Zvikutondi vhiringa & still nduto tadza kunzwisisa kuti ko iyi ndeipi iyi
From 2022 been trying to understand the MVNO or Dolphin 🐬 thing to be precise but still can’t understand it
Zvikutondi vhiringa & still nduto tadza kunzwisisa kuti ko iyi ndeipi iyi
I think its an mvno which leases infrastructure from Netone or Econet. Kusasimuka kwayo obvious kuvharirwa panze nema MNO.
They should have gotten an MNO license coz MVNO license nembavha like Econet or Netone is a waste of time
Approving starlink was a big step
What a time tk be alive, the truth is or how i see it, Econet is the only one that can pay the licencd as is, mamwe ayo netone and telcel if it still exists are all broke
That’s true yu see the amount of data yu recharge will not last long
ZW economy can improve significantly from a bigger, competitive and innovative telecoms sector. But we have been told Econet sponsors Zanu election campaigns amongst other things. The government is always the culprit in these situations.
Competition will cut Costs, it’s a welcome idea new players must enter the game
Lewismukendicpt@gmail.com
Competition will cut Costs, it’s a welcome idea new players must enter the game
They never do anything for the people trust me someone in high place is going to get money on these licences
To quote Duff-man from The Simpsons: Duff-man says a lot of things
Potraz needs to allow for number portability for mobile Telcom networks. It’s long overdue. The benefits include among other things shared infrastructure and competitive tarrifs to consumers and more revenue to the discus.
Public outcry is the best step like when we pushed for Starlink to be approved. Econet is over protected and titori pa tight.
Tikazvitarisa Econet is the main reason for our telecommunication problems
We know why they are saying this
Its because of the Starlink deal by the Mnangagwas. IMC Communications (owned by Collins) and one called Thamsanqa Mnangagwa who is also looking for Starlink deal. His front is a guy called salim eceolazawho was Access Finance CEO. The director general kunyara because he is giving one family two licenses for free. Tirikukuonai Mr Machengete, 3rd republic is coming soon!!!
This is a great development for Zimbabwe! Do you think the new entrants will be able to offer competitive pricing right away?
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Still remember being told that the some players had been given Tv licence well upto now Zimbabwe has 1 Tv channel. In Zimbabwe you can only get excited when something happens not with these news. These news papers always seem to have a little dilution of Zanu Pf propaganda🤣 (if i may say) in them.
Problem is the Zim Telecoms market ine ma gate keepers iyi. Econet to be specific vanenge vachita “Oil the hands of those who do good (gvt & POTRAZ) With that, hakuna any new player anouya achida kuita head on with these guys they will make sure they destroy you and your investment beyond repair. You will not be shocked to even find out that iyo Dolphin yakapiwa licence kare iyo, Econet has been pulling every lever out there to make sure the guys dont operate! By nature these new operators & MVNOs are supposed to collaborate with MNOs but the dimwits running these MNOs see these guys as competition instead of working on sound business models to deliver value to the customers.
Paratus is coming into Zimbabwe.
Guys, can’t u see what’s going on. Starlink is coming, and the sole distributor is realizing that the market for their main service is small . If IMC starts operating today their biggest customer would be Econet. But it’s not so clear-cut. Econet in theory has the ability snub them if the price is not right. Afterall, relative to the other MNO, they have a solid business that is better off in terms of attracting capital. As for the other two, I feel IMC is not too thrilled about taking them on as customers (can they pay for the service, on time?). The only other option is to rapidly expand the pool of potential customers. It could very well be a free for all in terms of licencing, and for many of these new operators, Starlink will likely be pivotal in their operations.
Or I could be wrong, just don’t fool yourself into thinking, that this is for the benefit of the masses.
Protecting Econet?!
It’s these type of stupid statements from the government that keep my blood pressure high!
In reality the companies being protected where NetOne nd Telecel.
In 2016 Econet was a already a multi national player with operations in at least 3 different countries!
So let’s see in 2016 NetOne and Telecel had being making and are still making losses continously up to now. And this is despite being allowed to copy Econet’s homework and all the overt and covert assistance by the government.
Now let’s look at Econet… well it has grown bigger than ever, become even more profitable and made it’s founder a billionaire.
So govt “protected” Econet? All government did was provide free training for Econet by teaching it how to navigate an extremely hostile business environment.
And because of the government trying to protect NetOne and Telecel we still don’t have a viable competitor to Econet and we are all suffering because of it.
Hey imbodaiwo nyika yenyu.
T Moblie,AT&T and Mint are here 🇺🇸❗️
Its a great initiative.. but whats the fate of Telecel
it’s starlink.related clearly. they Chivayo to get mobile and internet.
Investment is always good. You see the ecocash and econet data cheating has been too much for many years with the fake 111 calls that never help customers. In recent years many people have been shifting to use Netone data because econet is not a fair player. You wonder why they are like that. People can never be given the payouts of ecocash during the funeral times because they present mostly why one must not get the money invested for hard times making times more harder for the public.
Competition is way late and is needed last year.
As for whether government protected them before or not, we simply want cheaper alternatives that works not these exorbitant never connecting networks. You spent the whole time rebooting the phones hoping to trigger network.
This licensing regime is a good thing. It is welcome.
The new operators can start operating after a few years lol, we need cheap data now!!!
It’s about damn time we are being shafted in the bum with no vaseline by current players.
Competition is healthy, look at what happened to the beverages sector that was then monopolised by Delta.
It is the ripened time to do it now. Econet had exploited us enough. Enough is enough. Competition is necessary to survival principles. It is your duty to regulate this inequality. Thank you so much with this revelation!
For some reason, I feel this is in reference to StarLink
If Supa talked about protecting Econet, it is due to the fact that Econet is a gvt cash-cow. You forgot to mention the astronomical licence fees that Econet is forced to pay which then cascades to high data tariffs.
The new players that Machengete are probably linked to the Vene dynasty.