Many years ago, at a Techzim event, an ISP executive asked the audience: What matters more in an internet connection, more speed or a lower price? The executive seemed quite surprised to learn people were looking for cheaper not faster. We were surprised he was surprised.
Thanks to the Starlink threat, it’s finally sinking in for internet providers. Zimbabweans want more affordable internet. The first provider to make a radical counter to Starlink is Econet. It has the network coverage, and its $45 a month unlimited internet offer has got Zimbabweans talking.
The SmartBiz packages were introduced at the end of June, and it has taken 2 months to get some traction. There are 4 packages in total, with significant price differences based on how much speed you get and what your “unlimited” FUP is.
If you’re buying the $45 package, you get 5Mbps and your unlimited internet slows down after you have used 1TB. That’s what the FUP (Fair Usage Policy) there means.
Here are all the Econet SmartBiz unlimited internet packages for comparison:
| Package | Amount | FUP |
| 5 Mbps | $45 | 1TB |
| 10Mbps | $87 | 1.2TB |
| 20Mbps | $167 | 1.3TB |
| 50Mbps | $417 | 1.5TB |
We haven’t used this ourselves yet, but information we’re getting is that the speed isn’t as strictly throttled as suggested. Folks that bought the 5Mbps option have reported getting download speeds as high as 20Mbps (thank you Willard for all the useful information you’re sharing).
Given this reality, one wonders why anyone would take the 50Mbps option. The 5Mbps price is so low even the 20Mbps option feels expensive. And at any rate, a $100+ price tag is competing with Starlink’s new $100 roaming price.
Even the value in the 10Mbps package is questionable. Why pay double the price for a 20% more FUP cap? Again, price over speed.
How to buy a SmartBiz package
The best way to do this is to just walk into an Econet Shop with your ID. It’s like buying a new sim card, really, except with SmartBiz you need to pay for your first subscription. That’s it.
You don’t have to buy a router from Econet to get this service. It’s up to you to buy the sim + router (assuming the shop in stock) or to get the sim card only.
In fact you can put the sim into a regular smartphone. Say you have a Dual Sim and want to use the other sim slot for data connections and to hotspot your other devices and family.
We’re told to renew your subscription you need to go to an Econet shop as well, which is a bit strange. We suspect these are just launch hitches and soon you’ll be able to pay on EcoCash without the shop visits.
What is the network coverage?
This is an Econet Sim card so wherever the operator already has data coverage, this will work. That’s what we expect at least! And whatever internet speeds you’re getting there, you’ll also get on this SmartBiz sim. Well, based on your package.
The difference really is how the billing works. You pay monthly for this one, and on your anniversary, unless you renew, you get cut off.
Is it Geo-locked?
Non-Geo locked LTE sim cards are gold in Zimbabwe. These LTE connections are so valuable there’s a black market for them. That market will likely dry up as Zimbabweans learn of this SmatBiz. It comes without any Geo-locking.
Given the Geolocking incentive is to predict and control capacity, we wonder how Econet will deal with this $45 package burst in popularity. It might become a victim of its own success when people demand each their own 1TB concurrently in their thousands from a base station.
Econet will have to increase the capacity of its infrastructure, which is expensive. Maybe the $45 upfront payments will go a long way, who knows? Or the company will just slow down on the sales of these packages, or geo-lock them… and we’re right back to the sim black market!
How does it compare to Starlink? Which should you get?
If you’re within Econet coverage, the choice is a no brainer. Get the SmartBiz Package. Even with the official launch of Starlink in Zimbabwe (if it happens), the 5Mbps package will be cheaper. Slower yes, but cheaper – always the price not speed!
If prices in neighbouring prices are anything to go by, a Starlink kit is $350, while a typical MiFi router is less than $50. A Starlink monthly subscription is expected to be about $50 when it launches. SmartBiz 5Mbps is $45. Still no brainer!
Ofcourse if financial institutions step in to finance the Starlink kits, the decision is not so clear. Once the price questions is solved, speed does matter. Stability matters too. And ofcourse network coverage matters more than any of the above.
Share
Home
102 comments
They should consider offering even more options like
$22.50 for 500G
$11.25 for 250G
$5.62 for 125G
So that everyone can have a piece of the pie, thats were the majority can fit in.
True true….i second the idea… It offers flexibility
Good point there
It sounds good, and the price is quite affordable. I personally don’t mind the speed. We have been dealing with this speed of 20mbs for some time and it was working well. For the time being I vouch for the Econet smartvirtz. My worry though is this readily available
yes that is correct 💯%
That won’t work $5 for 125
Everyone wud settle for that they will lose money
You don’t make sense, how can they lose money by having more people purchasing their bundles. They will actually make more, and take away subscribers from other networks.
We all like the idea of unlimited but in reality for most people, 125gig is more than enough for a month so upon such realisation, a lot of people would quickly downgrade to the smaller package causing the company to lose money.
Starlink once off full kit is now $200 now and starlink 100mb/s which has reported to reach more than 150mb/s has dropped from $50 to $30…
Econet $45 … 5 to 30mb/s monthly
..Sim $2 router $55
I would risk and buy once off starlink for better speeds with a cheaper price than econet with slower speeds with high prices
We live the decision to you Zimbabweans to choose plus we all know it’s econet’s habit to make everything expensive..
I think that’s not shocking news to a Zimbabwean so l would choose starlink Everyday
I think they have already thought about it but perhaps it conflicted with their other data packages (private WiFi)
That’s true
That’s true bro. Problem with econet is it is never affordable to everyone and they want it the way. Now scared of starlink they now reduce prices. 🤣🤣🤣shame
True
Very true cz i need it as an individual but i can’t even use 100GB per month, why would I bie 1024GB ?.
No no u dint use 100gig cause u dont set everytging to 1080p 60fps. But 100gig with a 2023 phone is avarage data usage.
I would definitely buy $5.62 or $10 for 125Gig a month.
Vachazviita zvavo hanty starlink yapindira 🤣🤣🤣
I second you
We would really appreciate it
I think that may be a problem if that is implemented before infrastructure upgrade since the current one is already overloaded in some areas.
People who need less data may just use the general econet sim but with subsidized pricing.
I second that one too
Since it’s not Geo-locked I will definitely buy it.
Thanks to Starlink! The pressure is now on ahhh
Well said
Thanks to Starlink zvakuita manje. Data must be affordable kumwana wese
This a good move from Econet, that means all competition have to come up with cheaper unlimited plan options below the $45 that has been set, its going to be a interesting month of September 😁. I hear netone has new products to be launched soon , Telone to reduce prices as well.
The unlimited data plan is good i am actually interested in it… Being non GeoLocked is also good…5mbs there now why not just put it at 10mbs…. Liquid was throttling us at that speed (10mbs)… We worked with it …its a descent connection speed …. Waiting for other telecoms to throw in their challenge… But as of now i am getting this package…i had budgeted for the starlink kit… This one from econet …i am in
Check! for Starlink. With a little creativity, companies can outcompete and compete with international players.
Liquid is part of Econet and it uses Econet infrastructure but is only available from selected base stations, will that not be the same for the Biz packages?
What technology is Biz using for the article to give the impression that any handset will take the new SIM card and start working?
Does Starlink have an FUP?
Considering the competing option is $150 + $80 per month. This could save you a nice holiday.
If locks you to the bandwidth you paid for after a day. So it’s not really correct to say speeds are uncapped
it’s not speeds that are unlimited, its the data you download.
I first use it in June when it was launched when the Smartbiz 5 was still $70. The highest speed i recorded was 3.2Mbps and only managed to use 280gig the whole month, i was actually lucky. I would leave it to download overnight. The network wasnt stable i would at least reboot the modem every now and then during the day.
I made a mistake of recommending it to a friend who failed to reach 100gig the whole month.
After the fuss that is all over X i subscribed again yesterday. I ran a test in Hatfield 4.87Mbps, Quensdalle 4.88Mbps and the CBD 5.17Mbps that was in the morning before 11am. I ran it again in Hatfield @11pm and i recorded 5.25Mbps.
I wonder how some are getting 15Mbps on a 5Mbps connection it doesn’t make business sense.
I was getting good speeds almost up to 20mbps. Only this week that has changes and the line is strictly adhering to the 5mbps limit. It can temporarily go over but immediately comes back to the limit.
Same situation with me I’ve never really reached speeds above 7mb on any Econet connection that’s not 5G
I think people getting 20mbps when they run speed checks they confuse megabits for megabytes so
2.5 megabytes in megabits is around 20something megabits and most IT network oriented stuff is measured in megabits
I suggest pipo research on that u will understand a lot about netwrk speeds and how your devices measure them
Econet can not be trusted, that is when basing on previous experience. They introduce these niceties which are sugar-coated at first then later once the sugar coating wears off it’s back to the usual Econet inconsistencies.
Given the choice, I will go for the new kid on the block i.e. Starlink.
I hope Econet and other local service providers will improve because now they no longer enjoy the monopoly and protection, they now have strong competition.
Bought mine few days ago, so far so good 🔥🔥🔥
What are the speeds
How much do you pay for your first subscription?
Sim $2
Any idea on the latency, specifically for gaming e.g. COD mobile. My biggest gripe with any service, is how unstable the ping is. You play people on fibre across the border with your “fibre”. They have a ping in the 20s-30s and yours, anything from 30s to 90s and when it’s really bad, you cross the 200ms mark. The figures I have given seem small, but they make all the difference in competitive play.
Dont really know but i think i once got like 129-190ping on mk1 on battlefield i lagged here n there but at night well i worked decent dont know how but i think the 5mbp cap is not on yet untill there are more ppl buying these sims
It honestly depends with how good your general econet connection is in your area. I got 20-40ms on mobile legends. It does the job but if you generally struggle with Econet, don’t.
Use starlink it’s got to have a smaller ping with it’s crazy speeds
I think it’s really a good idea
Once everyone jumps on to this bandwagon what is going to happen to the speed. $45 for 1TB is great, until you start struggling to load the GoogleSearch homepage because of congestion during peak hours. I am suspicious of this new offer from Econet. Why aren’t they just straight up offering cheaper data bundles. Why do i need a whole new sim card? What about regular Econet subscribers? Are their speeds going to be throttled to prioritize this new class of users? Whats the catch??? Dang it !! Years of bad customer experience have turned me into a skeptic. I mean, can anyone blame me, there’s always something when Econet makes an offer that seems too good to be true. I need therapy.
You can buy SmartBiz *543#
My non-SmartBiz line accessed the menu, does that mean I can use my regular line or I need to get a new sim?
Get a new sim
I now know Econet marketing book i think. Lol. I think As always Econet will try to do a failed experiment where they try the service only on dedicated data Sim cards with separate numbers, but when that fail they will just open up the service to all existing number, but those who had bought separate lines now stuck with two number that would now offer the same services.
I recently acquired mine but to clear up:
1. You can’t buy the line without 4G/LTE router.
2. You can’t buy line if you have a mifi device
3. If you put the sim in phone they will block the number (someone from econet said so)
I love the level of enthusiasm you’re showing in this product, please update on this platform when you’ve bought it and tested how it works
I’ll definitely do that
So how much for the router in econet shops I hope that they support Wi-Fi 6e
Lets wait for starlink to come on board so we can weigh our options well.
I think starlink is the way to go,,,econet takuiziva hunhu hwayo
I can say that again, Musaswera kuzvitemesa musoro considering Econet when we know it is a disappointment, and have terrible customer service, dai you were comparing to Telone better.
StarLink ma World standard, Econet ma Xanu Standard.
I would definitely be in for 22.50 for 500gb….I don’t need a terabyte
They are cannibalizing liquid home wibroniks package. Possibly fibroniks. But the consumer is the real winner here. Interesting times.
But won’t the number of users also affect the speed?
Good point there I agree
Can this smartbiz allow streaming? With up to 20mbps, it should be possible right.
Is this line for business owners or anyone can access it ?
Anyone
Starking is unlimited at high speeds when not on roaming and only getting faster. Also zol is waking up with the unlimited fibre but still has room for improvement. Ashante B…..
I really want to try out Smartbiz but l have PTSD with Econet something sneaky is always behind the corner but currently l use Powertel and it’s the worst as soon as zesa goes you start having problems with 3 to 4 hours it’s the same as not having the internet anyway.
Starlink or zol fibre is your go to
Got the line but econet guys said you can only activate it if you have a router and it’s not available for your phone
By router,do you mean that a mifi is included as well,or their router?
SmartBiz for now. That way competition should lower the subscriptions
Insightful. turns out you know nothing until you really know. Smartbiz the way to go
I’ve trying out this SmartBiz option today but just like the previous times I’ve tried out an Econet line in the MiFi modem that I have here, it’s start and stop. You connect for a few minutes then it just disconnects and you struggle to reconnect. Maybe NetOne’s equivalent to SmartBiz will be worth a try because Econet just isn’t working.
On a side note, does anyone know what Econet’s MCCMNC is? I checked online and saw 64804 but I want to be sure so please let me know.
Depends on network connectivity mine is working flawlessly on smartTV, desktop, laptop, 4 smartphones decent speeds averaging above 10mbps during the day and 30mbps at night
The econet guys know this better. Just check their bundle prices. Hapana chitsotsi. Unototenga zvine advantage kwavari. See, ndiyani anopedza 1TB data. Unless you use expert systems like autocad, archiplan, or you are a developer always using data. I bet that only 20 percentage of those who buy the $45 package use 500gb or more. The rest will pay for data which will expire. But still it’s reasonable.
Give me SmartBiz 5Mbps @ $45. any time!
Econet has been giving us good deals like this one before, my worry comes when the deal with starlink doesn’t come through. Like always, they will say it was a promo and they will revert to their wild ‘n out ridiculous prices. Well, that’s Econet for us.
I just purchased mine today, total cost $47 USD ($2Sim card & $45USD Unlimited bundle with 1TB. FUP)The network speed is decent !,I just got a sustainable 10Mbps in the CBD Today,on this one I will say Econet Huchi baba, I’m so excited to finally have affordable Unlimited Internet Access! It’s game changing and life changing !.All Thanks go to STARLINK,If there wasn’t this ever imminent threat of Starlink,Econet wouldn’t reduce prices like this
Where did u get the simcard ne$2.
*Hi from TooMuchWifi*
To continue enjoying your Uncapped connection next month please ensure you make payment for September before 01 Sep 2024.
Service: 5Mbps
Amount: R 295
Payment Reference:
Neighboring country
Why does it need a router? Creating an unnecessary in-between tech to get more of your money. When you walk into their shops ,you buy both a router and a sim card
Why not a sim that works straight in your phone. Or maybe there is a very technical side to this ,that I don’t understand.
It does work in your phone
Some people like you are saying no router no problem.Then some are saying it will work without a router for a few months then it stops working . Which is which ?
How much is the sim card going for? And also what about the BYOD scheme?
starlink kits don’t cost $30 ,think of at least $300 or more.
But once that initial burden of paying for the kit is gone , you will be paying an almost similar monthly fee as those paying for smart biz ,but with the advantage of more speed. Starlink of course does have it’s disadvantages, like -it’s geo locked
but like you said you can’t wait for something that may or may not happen .if smart biz disappoints in the future,you can always abandon it .
I’m also sure ,that ,all these fussy requirements about routers and stuff will disappear in the near future as more products come on the market ,from other competitors
To
Well…my question is, when I finish the 1TB what will be the download speed on the 5Mbps package?
I second that, the teaching people things to do with the Internet, you you could focus more post on that, people are using the Internet forba lot non productive junk, and I wish how much more they can do with that powerful small computer in their hands.
Starlink will be better in such a situation, Econet would be idea for personal use maybe small office that can tolerate slow inconsistent connection. In bar patrons will throw bottles at you when Econet connection is cut or disrupted like always during a major sporting event.
Bar night club would require something better like starlink.
At the moment I can barely use my econet line in my Rural area.. kutoenda pakakwirira kuti network ibate. What’s econet doing to bridge that gap. Yes it is cheaper and not geo locked; but will I have total connectivity around the country just like what S.L. is offering
Reasonable for the likes of us vano streamer bora😜
Competition is good for US final users (consumers). Thanks to STARLINK ISP are beginning to react, hopefully the data is not that throttled, we were being overcharged compared to other countries within the region
‘If prices in neighbouring prices are anything to go by, a Starlink kit is $350, while a typical MiFi router is less than $50. A Starlink monthly subscription is expected to be about $50 when it launches. SmartBiz 5Mbps is $45. Still no brainer!’
I do not think this is a comparison but rather someone paid to advertise Econet. What about the Starlink Mini thats costs 200usd with subscriptions of 30usd per month unlimited data with Speeds up to 100Mbs and there is no FUP.
5mb/s is too slow than starlink 100mb/s the 20mb/s being reported from econet are just fusses or it just went over for a small time and returned to the limit of 5mb/s which is basically not comparable to 100mb/s per second which has never been recorded in Zimbabwean internet service providers…. I would keep on looking for money to buh starlink untill I’ve found and I’ll be settled for unlimited crazy speeds forever
Its good to have some competition. For a while Econet had been relaxed and this has been costing end users. Its time to have affordable internet, just like clients are having affordable sim cards. They can do it, but they lack the motivation as they enjoy other income streams for airtime sales, zol, life assurance And ecocash. Its high time they offer affordable,good coverage and stable internet.
Guys if you get 5mbps on an internet speed tester like https://www.speedtest.net/run the actual download speed you will be getting will be less than 1mbps. So please if you say you are capping the speeds to 5mbps for the $45 package then make sure the actual upload/download speed is 5mbps otherwise people will eventually opt for Starlink.
Same here max downspeed is 700kbps
Where did u get the simcard ne$2.
Econet first street
The price is affordable , plus the fact that we use our smart phones its gwan with us
Smartbiz 5 for me has got 700kbps max down speed
Speed test shows 5.5mbps
Is there a way to check how much data you’ve got left since the SmartBiz package is not unlimited? We are using the basic option which is 1terabyte, began using it on 30 August and I am curious to know how much data is remaining now.
I have a friend who uses this line and when he checked his data balance it showed the percentage of data he had used and it also showed the expiration date which stated that the data was expiring next year in March, wat does that mean?
How was your friend able to check data balance on that line? Is there a special short code for SmartBiz lines maybe?