In this first part of the weekly podcast, we discuss the Zimbabwean ride-sharing startup called SmartGo, the potential behind WhatsApp bots, and the peering arrangement between Liquid Telecom and Netflix.
Here’s a run through some of the things you need to access Netflix in Zimbabwe.
The late Ian Murdock. By now anyone with an internet connection probably now knows that the man Ian Ashley Murdock passed away a few days before the turn of the […]
According to its website, people using Hai Zambia Fibre internet can access ipidi tv and a promotion has been launched offering free ipidi TV until 30 April 2016 for every Hai customer who signs up for ipidi by 31 January 2016.
Although ZIMURA has been pretty mum about Zim Tunes and Mhanzi throughout the year, new information coming from the association is that the new distribution tools are in the final stages of development and will be launched by the end of March 2016.
The ZOL Startup Challenge has been discontinued. We will not hold it this year and will not hold it next year or the year after that etc… There are a couple of reasons why:
This is a mobile broadband promotion set to run from the 3rd of December until the beginning of March 2016. It is offering free data to NetOne mobile broadband subscribers that top up their data using the physical recharge data cards.
However, we are still not at a point where data service costs become an afterthought. Local internet prices are still steep, particularly for the majority of Zimbabweans who use mobile devices to go online. The absence of regulatory intervention hasn’t helped either. All the changes we’ve noticed so far are a reuslt of macro-economic forces…
A few days ago uMAX the company announced some changes. Here are some extracts from the announcement: musheMAX customers are now entitled to 15GB data allowance with an additional 15GB of Midnight […]
Telco, a local Internet Access Provider which has also been providing a fairly competitive fibre option has its mind on ensuring that fibre users that want the essentials of fibre and more importantly the best in streaming capabilities get just that. The team there has tried to capture this in their new service, Velocity Stream.
According to an updated ipidi website, the VOD service will come with two options – ipidi flix and ipidi boxoffice. The ipidi flix alternative offers monthly access to TV shows and movies and ipidi has made claims of a growing library with “thousands of hours” of content.
It’s not surprising that the leading provider of mobile broadband, Econet Wireless has launched its own self-care app. Called My Econet, this is meant to be Econet’s attempt at offering subscribers access to their accounts through a simplified gateway to a bouquet of services.
It was fourth in a row for Liquid Telecom when the Econet Group subsidiary was named the best African Wholesale carrier at the recent 11th Annual Global Carrier Awards. This adds to a growing trophy haul for the telecoms company which is also in the running for a host of other awards from other esteemed…
The latest in Liquid Telecom’s quest for a share of the African TV market is an investment in a South African VOD and linear free-to-air startup called Hola Media that the company has made.
However, one other number that stood out for us related to Econet’s broadband services. According to to the analysts’ presentation which accompanied the results, Econet has 7 million broadband subscribers. Econet says this number is an improvement from the 4,7 million broadband subscribers that the operator had in the same period last year.
Does Econet get the internet? Looking at the Tengai experience (it hasn’t been restored more than 2 months later), a strange EcoShopper product, and the long silence on ipidi you get a sense of how much Econet is prepared for business at this level.
One of the products unveiled at the Econet beyond The Phone Expo was the Econet ConnectedHome service. This uses standard smart home technology to offer a security system and automated domestic experience. However, Econet is looking beyond just cars and homes with these new products.
According to Angeline Vere, the CEO of Telecel, the operator has been piloting LTE in parts of Zimbabwe and will be activating it in the first part of 2016. However, she pointed out that the service isn’t immediately relevant in Zimbabwe because of a limited smartphone penetration.
Econet has ramped up the promotion of its LTE service with free data for users that sign up to test it.
After what most have considers as a lifetime of regret, Liquid telecom has started installing fibre in some suburbs in the city of Bulawayo. If other internet providers see business value there, could this be the start of the transformation of the city into a startup capital?
We had a quick chat with Godwin Thierry Chaparaushe, the founder and CEO of local startup Footballzone and he shared his own insights on running a Zimbabwean startup.
As much as a strategy used by ONTAPtv has been earmarked for the South African market, it has a fit in the rest of Africa. In Zimbabwe, that sort of approach could work, assuming that the VOD provider is willing to identify and craft the right sort of partnerships with public WiFI service providers.
Econet has remained mum on their walkout from the Infrastructure Sharing debate, but it cannot afford as a business to just let it slide. What are some of its options going forward?
Most of us are keen on taking advantage of different off-peak packages for broadband, so here’s a run through the steps for scheduling downloads.
So after the noise with the tengai.co.zw store and the ensuing usual talk about local content one question has been tickling the nether regions of my brain. Just what the heck is local content?
Recently, Liquid Telecom the African telecoms infrastructure company announced the launch of Hai, a new Internet Service Provider and retail internet brand. Hai opened its doors in Zambia first, and there are plans to establish a presence in Rwanda and Kenya shortly.
Telone has introduced hotspots at food outlets in partnership with Innscor. This could be a good development as it quickly multiplies Telone’s numbers and attracts traffic to Innscor outlets.
A pilot exercise by regional member states to reduce roaming tariffs as a means through which to promote regional trade and partnerships under the SADC Home and Away Roaming (SHAR) initiative is underway. However, this development is a bit late in the making and seems to ignore data roaming charges.