• Telecel Currently Testing 3G, to Launch by September

    After a couple of questions here on the blog about when Telecel will introduce 3G, we decided to reach out to Telecel last week to get an update straight from the horse’s mouth.

  • POTRAZ Tells Mobile Phone Users to Register Lines or Risk Disconnection

    The Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (POTRAZ) has issued a notice to all mobile phone users to register their mobile lines by 31 August 2010.

  • Baby Juice Card, The New 50c Airtime From Telecel

    Telecel Zimbabwe, the country second largest mobile operator, just launched a new airtime card dubbed Baby Juice Card. The card costs US 50 cents and includes 50 cents bonus airtime on top of that for calling other Telecel numbers.

  • TelOne Has 15km of Fibre to Mutare And Is “Progressing Well”

    This week, the Herald carried an interesting article on the national fibre backbone project. Carefully titled “Laying of fibre optic cable progresses well” the article disclosed that TelOne, the country’s only fixed telecom operator is digging a fibre cable trench to Mutare.

  • Telecel introduces call-me-back facility, missed call alert, and adds more countries to cheap call destinations

    The country’s second largest mobile operator, Telecel Zimbabwe, has introduced the call-me-back facility. The ‘CallMeBack’ allows a subscriber to send a free text message to another subscriber requesting them to call back. To date, only Econet had the facility enabled on its network.

  • The Era Of Ultra Fast Ubiquitous Broadband Coming To Zim: The Cyber Security Concerns

    Currently there are so many initiatives and developments by some of the big players in the networking and mobile industry in Zimbabwe such as Econet, Africom, AfricaOnline, MWeb, Powertel

  • PowerTel’s International Fibre Connection and the Expectation of Broadband Price Slashes

    PowerTel Communications, officially launched its Internet bandwidth provision agreement with Botswana Telecommunications (BTC). The agreement was signed in March this year and is for the provision of 155mbps of Internet bandwidth to PowerTel.

  • Africom Launches VSAT Teleport Hub

    One of the biggest Internet service providers in Zimbabwe, Africom, launched a VSAT teleport hub in Harare this morning. The teleport, pictured on the left, was installed with the help of SkyVision Global Networks, a global provider of IP connectivity over satellite systems.

  • Review: Ecoweb’s 4G Mobile WiMax

    A little more than two weeks ago we got hold of an Ecoweb 4g Mobile WiMax kit. We’ve been using it since. Long enough to give a fair review. We cut the review up into separate sections so you can jump to the section you want

  • 5 Steps To Enjoy Cheaper Mobile Calls In Zimbabwe

    If like us you are looking for ways to make cheaper calls, this article is for you. Here’s how you can start making immediate savings on calls:

  • Nhava Sells Stake To Rugare Chidembo, To Push Tens Of Thousands Of Nhavas This Year

    We visited the Nhava founders yesterday at their Livingstone offices in the Harare Avenues. We had an interesting discussion with them; from how Nhava was founded, their vision, the range of laptops and expansion plans.

  • The Case for Wide Area Network Optimisation Solutions in Zimbabwe: Part 1

    This is the first article in a two part series that discusses the challenges faced by Zimbabwean organisations that have branch networks and are constantly seeking redress to their problems.

  • Why Internet Marketing Is Better

    I may leave out the news paper, TV (ZBC in Zimbabwe) or brochures, but I’d never exclude the internet from almost ANY business/ marketing strategy I’m involved in.

  • We Live-Tweeted The POTRAZ Consultative Meeting

    For the first time at Techzim today, we live tweeted an event. The result: a live update of the proceedings at a POTRAZ consultative meeting with Internet Access Providers and Internet Service Providers in Harare. Our followers were able to follow the event in realtime!

  • Aquiva Closes US $7.2m Deal With HUAWEI

    Today, news came out that Aquiva Wireless has sealed a telecoms deal worth US $7.2m with Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei Technologies. The deal itself is for the establishment of 92 bases stations for broadband Internet. This effectively sets Aquiva Wireless on a growth path to compete with Internet Access Providers that have extensive infrastructure…

  • NetOne Introduces Per Second Billing

    Heeding a directive from the Zimbabwe telecoms regulator, POTRAZ, NetOne has introduced per second billing for all calls within its network. NetOne confirmed today that subscribers will be charged US $0.0033 for each second. Multiply that by 60 seconds and you have your US 20 cents per minute, more or less. This is important. Important…

  • Why Organisations Should Worry About Security: Part 2

    Due to the harsh operating environment in Zimbabwe, businesses tend to focus more on their core business areas and neglect information security. This is viewed as a non value adding activity. In order to address the security loophole, companies then invest in cheap ineffective solutions which are highly vulnerable to security threats. In most of…

  • Telecel Surpasses A Million Subscribers, To Launch 3G In 2 Months

    Telecel Zimbabwe yesterday celebrated its attainment of more than one million subscribers at a function held to coincide with the end of the Harare International Festival of the Arts, at which it was one of the major sponsors. Telecel took the opportunity to announce that it will launch 3G and GPRS data services on its…

  • The Ecoweb 4G Mobile WiMax Coverage Map

    Since we posted that Ecoweb started selling 4G mobile WiMax last week, we’ve been trying to get some solid information on the network coverage of the new technology. We requested a coverage map but the response we got what was something to the effect of “tell us a location and we’ll tell you if it’s…

  • Ecoweb Launches Mobile WiMax

    Last week, we revealed that Ecoweb was going to launch mobile WiMax this week. They just did. But that’s not the news. The news is this: It’s a staggering US$ 290 to get connected. The USB WiMax dongle, US$ 175, and the monthly bandwidth subscription, US$ 115. We say that because when we discovered that…

  • Ecoweb’s 4G Mobile WiMax Coming Next Week

    We just got information that Ecoweb, the ISP arm of Zimbabwe telecoms giant, Econet, will start selling their 4G mobile WiMax next week. According to our source, Ecoweb is just waiting for an approval of the proposed pricing by the telecoms regulatory authority POTRAZ. We got a glimpse of the pricing and hey, dear reader,…

  • Update on Zimbabwe’s Broken Sites: Still Broken

    Last year we posted an article titled “Zimbabwe’s Broken Websites: Telecoms Operators”. The article basically pointed out some glaring omissions and commissions on the websites of some of the biggest telecom companies. Most of these errors can be corrected easily with a little effort and within a few minutes. We promised to do a follow-up…

  • Weekly Roundup – 10 April 2010

    TelOne, Telkom Talks The Herald on Thursday continued with the TelOne/Telkom story that’s been appearing now and again for a while now. This time TelOne spokesperson Mr Collin Wilbes, just confirmed that negotiations are still ongoing but that he couldn’t give details.

  • When Solar Meets Wireless – A Rural Telecommunications Solution – Part 3

    Telecom Center (Phone & Internet Center) Think of a telecom center as a setup with phone, e-mail and internet services. This model is pretty common in urban setups. And this model could be used for remote centers and even some urban centers whose electricity supply is more often off than on. As such the telecom…

  • Exclusive Interview with Telecontract CEO, Shadreck Nkala Over ZOL Disconnections

    Two days ago we posted an exclusive interview we had with the ZOL CEO David Behr over the broadband disconnections we posted here on Monday. David Behr revealed some interesting aspects to the story. Later the same day, we had another exclusive with the other side, Telco CEO Shadreck Nkala. Below is the transcription of…

  • Telecel Subscriber Base Reaches Almost One Million

    Telecel Zimbabwe now has close to a million subscribers, the company’s international partner, Telecel Globe, revealed on Thursday. Telecel Globe chief executive Kai Uebach told a media briefing in Harare that Telecel Zimbabwe had invested heavily in developing its network. It was rolling out in the region of 170 base stations countrywide. He said the…

  • Exclusive Interview with ZOL CEO, David Behr Over Telco Disconnections

    So, today we finally got a chance to talk to the David Behr, the ZOL CEO. Below is the full text of the 1 on 1 interview we had with him this afternoon. He basically explains more on the dispute between his company and Telecontract we reported earlier this week. We’re hoping to have a…

  • Ecoweb To Launch Mobile WiMax In April

    Ever since Ecoweb announced the coming launch of mobile WiMax last year in October, we’ve been waiting eagerly here at Techzim for further announcements and possibly, a launch date. This didn’t come until last week when Ecoweb finally said something through their Econet investor relations page. Ecoweb, a wholly owned subsidiary of Econet Wireless Zimbabwe…

  • When Solar Meets Wireless – A Rural Telecommunications Solution

    Recently the Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (POTRAZ) made an announcement that it had committed US$24 million from the Universal Services Fund (USF) for implementing eight projects in the rural areas. No specifics as to which telecoms operators had been tasked to carry out the rural network outreach programs. Also no specific areas…

  • Telecontract ‘Illegally’ Disconnects 200 Zimbabwe Online’s Broadband Customers

    We’ve been hearing rumours over the past week that Telecontract was threatening to disconnect all ZOL clients if ZOL didn’t let them bill customers directly. The rumour was confirmed yesterday when ZOL issued a press statement to explain what was going on in this troubled marriage. Some background: The arrangement that has been working for…