TelOne, one of the two largest fixed internet providers in Zimbabwe, has announced that it is now a Starlink Authorised Reseller.
TelOne shared the news on its social media handles today:
To all our valued Clients and Stakeholders.
Please be advised that TelOne is now on officially authorized Starlink Reseller.
This exciting development expands our range of services that enable us lo better serve you with modern and efficient connectivity solutions. The Startink satellite internet solution is designed to deliver high speed, low latency internet access including Me most remote ports of the country.
TelOne is committed to providing connectivity across Zimbabwe and beyond. The appointment of TelOne as an authorized Startink reseller enhances our ability to achieve this goal.
The move follows hard on the heels of an announcement by Aura on Monday. . In just the past two weeks, there seems to be a frenzy of telecoms companies vying to be recognized as “THE Starlink reseller.”
TelOne is a different ballgame altogether though. It has massive distribution capacity that it can leverage, and this matters a lot for a service as popular as Starlink is becoming. And it’s not just its own capacity it can bring to bear – there’s that of other government companies that it can leverage too – NetOne and Zimpost primarily. If it plays it well, TelOne can become the ‘goto Starlink distributor’ in Zimbabwe.
TelOne is a different ballgame altogether, though. It has massive distribution capacity that it can leverage, and this matters a lot for a service that’s gaining commodity traction in Zimbabwe. And it’s not just its own capacity it can bring to bear – there’s that of other government companies that it can leverage too – NetOne and Zimpost primarily. If it plays it well, TelOne can become the ‘go-to Starlink distributor’ in Zimbabwe.
Where are Liquid and Econet?
Zimbabwe’s fixed internet market has two major players; TelOne and Liquid – counting subscriber numbers that is. You can read the Potraz quarterly regulator reports for the details.
TelOne has the huge DSL numbers and has subscribers on other technologies as well, like Fixed LTE, WiMax, and so on. Liquid has the fiber numbers and subscribers on other tech.
What has us dumbfounded is that Liquid and Econet are strangely silent in all this Starlink frenzy. Yes, Econet is the trenches fighting, and trying new things. But they are doing so as a competitor and not getting in on Starlink distribution, so that as they lose some direct customers, they gain them on a Starlink distribution business. And maybe still upsell them on the other products they offer.
The Econet group and sister companies are usually first in announcing such moves. And of all the internet providers in Zimbabwe, Liquid and Econet are the ones that have made significant moves from just providing access to the internet to being digital solutions companies.
Econet have for years now made several moves into; content (Kwese), Fintech (EcoCash & Steward), on-demand economy (Vaya), a super app (Sasai) and even some forays into enabling an online gaming ecosystem. They have not always succeeded, but they clearly knew access alone was not enough. Liquid has its data centre business, cloud services, it’s partnerships with Microsoft, cyber security companies and the list goes on.
So yes, it doesn’t make sense that the biggest connectivity shift in Zimbabwe since Econet itself in the 90s, is something they didn’t see or make a move on.
22 comments
Econet will not take the Starlink deal as they have a deal with a Starlink competitor Oneweb.
Telone has decided to through away their products in favor of Starlink.They should have lowered prices below that of Starlink instead.
Maybe Telone is part of of Starlink Zimbabwe that was formed who knows.Lets see were this is going
I have a feeling TechZim is part of Starlink Zimbabwe, they cannot feel good without posting anything to do with Starlink
Drogba, the last couple of articles weren’t about Starlink, which means the team has listened to our feedback. Give them a break.
I dont think it makes sense for Econet or Liquid to resale Starlink equipment , better they start rolling out own products using Oneweb partnership to increase their capacity and reduce network congestion. This i guess can help lower prices but it will be bad for investors in this companies in terms of return. Telone should do the same not sell starlink equipment as they do a an agreement with Oneweb as well it will help improve service delivery and capacity . Telone , Evonet and Liquid should also never reply 100% on Oneweb , it will be bad move. Why is econet and liquid not looking at having their iwn satelites or ballons im space , they are big companies they can raise 10 Billion to start such a project , 3conet has done it before in Uk
🤣🤣🤣🤣 what’s the Zim GDP first? You honestly think Telone can raise 10 billion USD or you meant 10 billion bond?
@Marvsta hush hush crd,
Thus too much emotional damage🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣😅😅
Ahh, Telecel ka! I suggested this to you a long time ago! You are small yet nimble enough that you could have beat everyone if you were serious. If you are still here when direct to cell launches and you aren’t the first one to bring it to Zim, the belt is gonna come out!
@Techzim, please advise on the various ways to mount the starlink dish? I have gone through the internet and have found no info regarding this in Zim. If you can look into this and publish an article that would be helpful or maybe respond with a link to the info that relates to Zim. Will keep an eye out for it, thanks in advance.
SpaceX sells mounting accessories on the website. Local resellers will have some stock of mounting hardware to varying degrees. Traditional satellite installers will have some hardware that is compatible and, failing that, hardware they can fabricate/modify and install. It’s really not a major production.
Zvinhu zviya zvochizotodhura manje, ukaona pangooiita musondosi pakati chete sezvaiita telone ma prices atodhura muchiwana inefficient data Mai hweee
I hope all leaders read this! We are just killing our economy, no growth, no innovation, failing to maintain what’s already there. Education not of any purpose. It’s just killing the economy imports, imports, imports only NO local production, no exports!
There are sectors where pursuing local production and innovation makes sense, but LEO internet is not one for us. Look at how much Starlink put into it or how much China is spending in spies, treasures and the safety of their citizens to catch up.
If they play their cards right. In one stroke they are now bigger than everyone. Imagine them joining direct to cell starlink with their Blaze LTE, then enabling voice services. Just thinking aloud
Folks isn’t crazy that Telone supposed to maneuver ways to become better competitor than to become merchandiser and agents of Elon. Zvemu zim ma1 .we are likely to hear kuti potraz yakudawo futi kuma citizens….
It makes sense. you suddeny have 100% coverage, no base stations, no building of Digital Backbone, no load shedding, it just works out of the box. you know what they say about first-time movers. Just thinking aloud
Please explain to me how TelOne is going to make money with this deal. Are they going to continue selling their internet solution or they will dump. Will they be able to survive on commission they will get from Elon
TelOne is now on officially authorized… services that enable us lo better serve you ….. The Startink satellite internet solution is …… low latency internet access including Me most remote ports of the country. .. — WTF is all of this ? read it all again slowly !!!
It’s good the entry of telone will stabilise prices in the wake of parallel market distortions especially for those who earn and transact in ZWG dollar. Telone accepts local currency and uses the official rate always.
Telone is a reseller in Zimbabwe, it doesn’t say if they are authorized directly by Starlink or one of the globally licensed resellers. It also doesn’t say they have exclusivity, which means other Starlink distribution channels with global rights could deploy. There is one company to keep an eye on, Afritech, the Directors …
If you are sell for your competition you are admitting defeat and it sends the wrong signal to the market and your shareholders period.
I hope that limiting the sale of Starlink products to licensed businesses only will not limit the reach of the block blast.