• Econet Wireless uses YouTube for PR in Nigeria dispute with Airtel

    In mega disputes the kind Econet Wireless International fights globally, you need neutral parties seeing things from your angle, and as many voices on your side as you can get. When you understand this the way Econet does, the logical decision to take is to go out there and tell your story; the whole story…

  • Econet files for $3.1 billion damages against Bharti Airtel in Nigeria

    A Reuters report today says South African based Econet Wireless has filed a law suit against Bharti Airtel for at least US $3.1 billion in damages.

  • With Truscto agreement expired, Econet kills Ecolife

    Today, Econet Wireless Zimbabwe announced in a public notice that as the Ecolife agreement with Trustco has expired, the mobile operator is unable to continue offering the mobile life insurance product. Econet says it will honor any claims from beneficiaries entitled to the cover as at midnight 17 February 2012.

  • After extended trial run, Econet begins charging for MMS

    Yesterday Econet announced it had begun charging for its Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS). The service was launched in mid-December last year and ran on trial since for two months. Initially, the trial period was meant to last until the end of December.

  • Econet’s Valentine’s promo: A $100 Android smartphone

    This is the lowest an Android smartphone has been sold yet in Zimbabwe. For Valentine’s month, Econet has slashed the price of the Huawei U8100 smartphone by 50% to just US $100. The U8100 is Android powered and one of Huawei’s entry level smartphones. If you read the Huawei Ideos review we did last, you…

  • Econet’s new concept cyber cafe (pictures)

    Last week, launched it’s much awaited concept Cyber Cafe in Harare (Montagu centre). We had an opportunity to go there and take a few photos of the place. We won’t say that we loved it! You just need to see the pictures below. We also hope you’ll get a chance to visit it if you…

  • A “How not to launch an internet based product” lesson from Econet

    How under the sun do you launch a product, one of whose main points of interface with customers is the web, without having the web platform ready?

  • Econet Wireless Group triumphs in Nigeria

    According to a press release posted on the Econet Wireless website today, the Federal High Court of Nigeria handed down judgment in favour of Econet in the dispute between the company and Bharti Airtel Nigeria. The matter stems from shareholding problems in 2003 and until now, Econet had failed to get any favorable outcome from…

  • Econet launches Econet VoIP

    Today, we attended the Econet VoIP launch we wrote about yesterday. We speculated a lot yesterday about what exactly the product is so we’re quite excited to reveal the accurate details today. Those of you that follow us on Twitter received the news in real-time as we heard it in the morning so no new…

  • Econet Wireless Zimbabwe to launch VoIP

    Just when everyone had agreed that Econet and the other GSM mobile operators are scared of VoIP, the largest telecommunications firm in Zimbabwe has come out to launch that very service. Tomorrow, Econet Wireless Zimbabwe will launch Econet VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) at an event to be held in Harare.

  • Telco interconnects with Econet. Still to interconnect with Telecel & NetOne

    Internet Access Provider, Telecontract (Telco), has interconnected its VoIP network with the Econet Wireless’s GSM mobile phone network. We got the announcement yesterday from Telco. The IAP launched VoIP services in November 2010 and more than a year later, had still not interconnected with a single mobile operator.

  • One of our readers thinks Econet is lying about @Econet Wireless

    So, no kind words from subscribers in response to Econet’s “@Econet Wireless” tag on SMS messages. Almost everyone we’ve spoken to about the matter says Econet should just stop. But no, Econet is not giving this one up. Not yet. In a message to subscribers yesterday, Zimbabwe’s largest telecoms firm sought to explain, again:

  • Econet quietly switches on Ecolife. The big losers are Trustco & the subscribers

    Some several days ago, we learnt that Econet complied. Quietly. Ecolife, we’re told was switched on some few weeks ago. Three or four, according to our sources. At least two individuals close enough to know the truth have confirmed this.

  • Econet scoops Superbrand and ICT Achievers Awards for 2011

    In the space of 3 days, the largest telecommunications firm in Zimbabwe, Econet Wireless, has been awarded by both the Marketing Association of Zimbabwe in the Superbrand 2011 Awards, and the Ministry of ICT in the ICT Achievers Awards 2011.

  • Econet launches MMS

    Over the weekend, Econet Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) on trial to all its customers. The trial runs until end of December and for that period, subscribers will be able to and send free unlimited MMS messages on the network. After the trial period, a single SMS will cost US 15 cents during peak periods and…

  • Review: The Huawei Ideos U8150 from Econet. Great value for money

    We spent most of last week with three gadgets we got from Econet for review: A Huawei Ideos U8150 smartphone, an Ideos X5 Pro smartphone and an Ideos S7 Slim tablet. This review will focus on the U8150 pictured below. We’ll post separate reviews for the other two devices.

  • Subscribers annoyed with “@Econet Wireless” labelled SMS messages

    Starting last week, Econet has been appending the name of the company to some SMS messages sent from the network. It reads “@ Econet Wireless”. Most people we’ve talked to say they started receiving the ‘labelled’ SMSes last week on Friday. But that the appended text doesn’t come with every SMS. It’s random.

  • Some Econet mobile broadband subscriber stats. eTXT. EconetMail

    Yesterday, we got the opportunity to discuss a few things about Econet Broadband with Leon de Fleuriot, the Chief Commercial Officer – Broadband at Econet Wireless Zimbabwe. We talked about the number of mobile broadband subscribers, eTXT, EconetMail and other things. We also discussed some issues Techzim readers suggested on our Facebook Page and Twitter.

  • Econet Broadband unleashes Huawei Ideos pair

    After we announced the launch of Huawei’s Ideos S7 Tablet in South Africa a few months ago and the company’s stated intentions to conquer Africa with affordable Android devices, Econet Wireless has come out with a double punch. The company has introduced the Huawei Ideos S7 tablet and the Ideos Google phone at $450 and…

  • Econet to spend 1 million Euro on broadband and voice optimisation

    Mobile network monitoring and optimization solutions provider, Astellia, announced today that they have signed a EUR 1 million agreement with Econet Wireless Zimbabwe. According to the announcement, Econet will deploy an Astellia solution to monitor network performance for its mobile broadband and voice services and will also have a team of Astellia consultants to provide…

  • Econet slashes price of eTXT chat messages

    We just got pointed to an update on the eTXT Facebook application page announcing the slashing of eTXT chat messages from 5 cents a message to 2 cents. Here’s a screenshot of the update.

  • Trustco & Econet to resume Ecolife pending Supreme Court determination

    Today, we received communication from Trustco today confirming that they have been allowed to execute judgement as handed down by the High Court in July. The Trustco contact we communicated with says the court order was served to Econet today and all things [Ecolife that is, will be] back to normal shortly.

  • Copied work: The Econet Broadband ad campaign

    A very striking similarity between Econet Broadband ads and those Allen Solly (a retail chain in India) recently came to our attention. The Econet campaign was created by Young and Rubicam Johannesburg, which since last year has listed Econet Wireless as one of its major accounts.

  • Econet to provide free unlimited Wi-Fi at ICT Africa 2011

    We got notified today by Econet that they will be providing free Wi-Fi internet at this year’s ICT Africa. The free Wi-Fi will be available to everyone at the venue for the entire duration of the exhibition. And it is unlimited! This is set to attract a lot of visitors to the exhibition; Internet connectivity…

  • ICT Africa 2011 versus Econet’s Experience Expo

    A few weeks ago we learnt that some local ISPs were considering not exhibiting at ICT Africa 2011 after finding out that Econet Wireless had snapped up 23 stands for the event, thereby dwarfing every other exhibitor by an epic scale. Things like this happen and are not surprising. However I was very disappointed by…

  • Econet announces the launch of EcoCash

    We’ve just received a press release from Econet PR announcing the launch of EcoCash, the mobile banking service. The release doesn’t disclose much about how the service will work. Just a bit more than what we found out yesterday; that a subscriber will not need a bank account and that the service is mobile network…

  • Econet to launch Eco-Cash tomorrow. No Bank Account. Cross Network.

    Econet is launching Eco-Cash, its mobile money service, tomorrow. The launch will be held at the Rainbow Towers hotel in Harare. Econet unveiled earlier this month its plan to launch the service before the end of September. We have received some bits of information on what Eco-Cash will be.

  • Econet shows us how a social media campaign is done

    We have just been informed that Econet has begun running a Facebook campaign for its eTXT service. Econet has had some misses publicising and advertising its internet products but this one definitely looks executed quite well so far. It appears Zimbabwe’s biggest mobile operator has found some brainiac to guide them!

  • Econet, here’s our Eco-Cash wish list

    Eco-Cash is likely to change a lot of things for a lot of people. Whether you are mobile operator, a payment services provider, a traditional bank or a more modern bank just starting to offer mobile money services to the millions of unbanked Zimbabweans, Econet will in some way disrupt your business. Econet has almost…

  • Africom officially interconnects with Econet and TelOne

    Today, Africom sent a message to its customers through SMS announcing that the Africom CDMA network is now officially interconnected with the Econet mobile network and the TelOne fixed line network. This in addition to the existing Telecel interconnection. Africom also took the opportunity to remind the market that making calls to other networks costs…