Search
-
Zimpapers introduces Mobile News, an SMS & USSD based news service
Zimpapers, the government owned and largest media house in Zimbabwe by circulation, revealed through adverts in newspapers today the introduction of its SMS and USSD news services that will be launched on the 1st of May.
-
Google+ via SMS now available in 23 African countries
Google announced yesterday that users in 23 African countries can now post to Google+ via SMS. The move is the latest in Google’s efforts to encourage use of their relatively new social network. “We wanted to ensure that Google+ is also available at times when you are not connected to the internet” says the announcement.
-
Update:The phone is free. The $6,000 is for voice, SMS & data
We just got some clarification from Econet. Basically their website has incomplete information on the deal. The $6,000 contract part is correct. However the deal is that you get $250 worth of voice calls, SMS and mobile broadband data every month. Effectively this does make the Samsung Galaxy I9000 free, as in free. Here’s an…
-
ZOL slashes Wi-Fi hotspot prices. Discontinues free minutes
Zimbabwe Online (ZOL), the ISP that has the largest number of Wi-Fi hotspots in Zimbabwe, has slashed the prices of its Wi-Fi internet service. The service has effectively become one of the lowest priced internet packages in the country. But the slash is coming with some not so good news; ZOL is killing the 15…
-
SMS, USSD and the mobile web: Zimbabwe is not that country
It was just a few months ago, sitting with the CEO who had moved back into the country after working as a successful starter-up in the US. The interview part hadn’t started and I was shaking a bit (he had come to pick me up in a classy vehicle and drove me to his classy…
-
WhatsApp says they are no threat to mobile operators
The co-founder of US-based messaging startup WhatsApp, Brian Acton, has denied popular notion that their startup is a threat to mobile operators’ revenues. In an interview with Reuters a few days ago, Acton said that instead, they were helping operators move their customers to data packages which would prove more profitable in the long run;…
-
Setting up mobile broadband on your PC without an Internet dongle
You can easily set up a broadband Internet connection on your PC/Laptop in the comfort of your home or while traveling without necessarily paying the price of a new Internet dongle. You might have all that you need in your home, except for one item that will only cost you US $5!
-
EcoCash adds 200,000 more subscribers in a month (Growth stats since launch)
Less than a month ago, Econet announced that it had connected a million subscribers on its mobile money platform, Ecocash. Yesterday, a Twitter update by the CEO of Pattern Matched, Markus Schorn, revealed that Econet has since signed on an additional 200,000 subscribers to the mobile money service since the March
-
PowerTel expands mobile broadband coverage to catch up to competition
We recently got an update from PowerTel the progress the company has been making on the mobile broadband front. The last time we wrote about the company in 2011, they had held an event where they announced they where working to expand the network to cover smaller cities and towns, and that they were preparing…
-
Start-up solves Zimbabwe’s change problem with a mobile airtime solution
Since the adoption of the mixed hard currencies monetary regime in Zimbabwe at the end of 2009, the one problem that has refused to go away is that of change. Retailers just don’t have enough change to give shoppers. It’s the same situation with commuter bus operators, street vendors and just about anyone that sells…
-
Addressing Revenue Assurance in telecoms
According to a market research report released by global research firm, Frost & Sullivan (May 9 2011), Zimbabwe’s mobile communications revenue will reach US $ 1.34 billion by 2016, with 20.1% compound annual growth rate. This is only achievable if these firms consider and monitor tightly the revenue assurance cycle. Let’s look at the prominent…
-
Africom too now offering unlimited calls, for $10 a month
In what will become the lowest priced voice call deal in Zimbabwe, Africom revealed today that the company is now offering unlimited calls for just $10 a month within the network. The revelation was made on the company’s new website that came online today. Africom’s follows hot on the heels of Brodacom’s almost similar announcement…
-
Brodacom introduces unlimited calls for $15 a month
Yesterday, we attended a Brodacom event where the company announced some new services they will be offering. One new product presented, a gadget Brodacom calls a ‘talking modem’, is primarily a wireless internet modem, which really looks like a phone and that indeed can do voice calls. The ‘talking modem’ is the basis of a…
-
Why mobile operators should consider startup funding in Africa
Paul Graham, Founder of the Y Combinator incubation hub once spoke of the ingredients required to create Silicon Valley. He summed it up as a combination of: Rich people (angel or VC investors) + Nerds (talent)
-
Huawei holds a mobile broadband show for Zimbabwe telecoms operators
Last week, we visited the Huawei Mobile broadband show that ran from 22nd to 29 February in Harare. The show was held for telecommunication services providers in Zimbabwe and it was meant as a neutral platform for Huawei to showcase its product, both end user consumer products and backend infrastructure products.
-
eTXT now app platform as ForgetMeNot Africa launches App Challenge
You’ve probably used eTXT a number of times. If not you then at least someone you chat with on Facebook, on Gtalk or just someone you exchange emails with has […]
-
Overview of fraud and revenue assurance in telecoms
In the broadest sense, fraud is “a criminal deception intended to gain money or personal advantage”. Fraud is a big problem for many businesses and can be of various types. Inaccurate credit applications, fraudulent transactions, identity thefts and false insurance claims are some examples of this problem.
-
Aptics enters market with promise of affordable broadband and VoIP
About 2 weeks ago a new Internet Access Provider called Aptics started advertising VoIP telephony and ‘4G’ services in the local newspapers. We have tried the Aptics broadband internet before for our primary connection at the office, but then, the company was still providing services primarily through ISPs ZOL and Yo Africa. The company is…
-
Aquiva Wireless to launch VoIP by April
One of Zimbabwe’s licensed Internet Access Providers (IAP), Aquiva Wireless, will be launching VoIP services by April this year. We got the news from the company this week that they are finalizing interconnection agreements with some of the existing mobile operators and the fixed line operator (TelOne) and will be launching VoIP commercially in the…