Posted inBroadband

Telecel Pushes Mobile Internet Launch To Next Year

Last week left a lot of mobile users asking questions about Telecel’s data services. Econet’s pricey mobile broadband and Africom’s (and PowerTel’s) lack of coverage outside Harare has increased the calls for an alternative. And many believe Telecel has the much needed international backing from its Egypt based parent company, Telecel Globe, to provide an alternative.
25
Posted inBroadband

No Real Broadband Yet In Zimbabwe

As the editor of an online magazine that is updated several times a day, the Internet is a critical tool for my team and I. Also, as a member of a web development team doing critical updates and uploads for several clients the Internet is indispensable. So it is totally frustrating the amount of down time we have to deal with in Zimbabwe.
9
Posted inBroadband

Beyond A Gig, Africom’s Mobile Broadband Costs $100 Per Gig

Africom has received a lot of praise since it launched its mobile broadband service a little more than a month ago. Most users of the new service love it. Some subscribers even credit Africom with bringing the first true mobile broadband experience to Zimbabwe.
25
Posted inBroadband

The Econet Mobile Broadband Letdown

To say we didn’t wait with abated breath for one year would be a lie. We waited. We naively thought Econet would use its muscle and deep pockets to roll out the most affordable mobile broadband service.
26
Posted inBroadband

Africom Launches Paid Mobile Broadband Services

Today Africom officially unveiled its paid mobile broadband services through adverts in the press and an email sent today to subscribers using the services for the one month free bandwidth promotion. The email basically tells subscribers to pay by 23 October or get disconnected.
19
Posted inBroadband

Econet Launches Mobile Broadband Services

We’re just from the launch of Zimbabwe’s first nationwide broadband service by Econet at an elegant dinner at the Crowne Plaza in Harare this evening. The launch was attended was attended by cabinet ministers, ambassadors and POTRAZ officials.
48
Posted inBroadband

Africom Mobile Broadband Services Prices

It is common knowledge now that Zimbabweans are going to be getting better quality mobile Internet within the next 2 weeks. Whether it’s going to be affordable or not is of course another matter altogether and a discussion for when the official tariff schedules come out.
21
Posted inBroadband

Africom Delays Launch Of Paid Mobile Internet Services

When Africom launched mobile internet services about a month ago, it was with a one month free bandwidth promotion for all customers. The promotion was due to expire on 10 October, when Africom said it would unveil the tariff schedule for the new services. 10 October came and passed and it’s emerging Africom is not ready yet.
12
Posted inBroadband

Econet to Launch Econet Broadband In Less Than A Week

Early this month, Econet promised to launch a comprehensive mobile Internet service at the end of the month. Talking to Econet staff lately, Techzim got the impression that Econet is about to launch something so impressive it’ll blow our minds off. And as one guy put it, “it’s going to be a game changer”.
19
Posted inBroadband

Full Text of ZOL Press Statement on “Potraz accused of inaction”

Below is the full text of ZOL's press statement we got hold of earlier today. The statement is in response to the article published in the Sunday Mail of 10 October 2010, titled "POTRAZ Accused of inaction" The statement will likely be in the press tomorrow or Friday. We posted an article about this issue early today.
1
Posted inBroadband

Telecontract and ZOL Fighting Again

If you were in Zimbabwe in early April this year, you probably remember the nasty fallout between ZOL and Telecontract. The one that caused untold misery to over 200 ZOL customers who went for about two weeks without Internet after being disconnected by Telecontract.
Posted inBroadband

Econet Says Wait Till Late October for Mobile Broadband

No sooner had I hit ‘publish’ on an article about the suspension of Ecoweb Mobile WiMax sales, than a new SMS notification buzzed on my phone. It’s a broadcast message from Econet (You get to do this when you own a huge mobile network) and it confirms what we’ve been writing these past few weeks. It says:
12
Posted inBroadband

Ecoweb Quietly Suspends Selling Mobile WiMax

Many people wanting to buy the Ecoweb Mobile WiMax service this week were met with an unpleasant surprise: Ecoweb customer service agents are telling prospective customers that the service is no longer available for new customers.
8
Posted inBroadband

Econet to Launch ‘Econet Broadband’

We just learnt from a contact that Econet will be launching new broadband services shortly. The new services will be branded ‘Econet Broadband’. The services will be a combination of the 4G mobile WiMax from Ecoweb (a subsidiary) and the 3G services introduced by Econet last year
Posted inBroadband

Botswana Fibre Optic Breaks, Affects Zim ISPs

Yesterday, the Botswana fibre optic cable that supplies wholesale International bandwidth to Powertel (a state owned Internet provider) broke. The cable damage was on a section in an area outside Francistown in Botswana.
Posted inBroadband Connectivity

Clouds of Change, Your Role in the Clouds

Cloud computing and virtualization are bringing a paradigm shift for the classic IT function. Adapting your skills to the new technical requirements could make all the difference and ultimately increase your visibility and depending on your current situation, those clouds on the horizon bring welcome relief or are the beginning of the end to your career.
4
Posted inBroadband

EASSy to be Switched on Tomorrow, 16 July 2010

The EASSy undersea fibre cable will go live tomorrow, 16 July 2010. The EASSy commercial launch follows the completion of three successful tests that have been carried out on the cable in the last few months.
2