According to the Minister of ICT, Supa Mandiwanzira, the various telecoms operators, including Econet Wireless, now have an understanding of what the government is trying to achieve through infrastructure sharing and they appreciate how this is something that they need in an ever-changing telecoms environment.
This morning, the ministry of ICT, through arrangements facilitated by the telecoms regulator POTRAZ, is holding a closed-door breakfast meeting with the heads of the various telecoms operators.
Telecel has introduced 10 franchise stores across Zimbabwe and this is part of the mobile operator’s multi-channel customer experience strategy to increase its footprint in the market. These stores will also be complemented by several kiosks throughout the country.
Now that the internet is available, there is need for startups to understand how the opportunities that come with it can be exploited successfully into profitable businesses. The Broadband Forum will provide a platform for aspiring startups to learn from testimonials of successes like Mark Essien’s Hotels.ng in tourism and Emma Kay bringing bozzi.mobi online.
There’s a pattern that is emerging in all of this – Liquid is striking a balance between the infrastructure and services, defining a clearer role for itself in value addition and not just focusing on fibre optic rollout.
Nettcash, the mobile money service, is set to launch a new product that will enhance its list of services and improve its current platform. We are not sure what the new product is, but there are some aspects of its current offering that it should consider improving on.
With all this talk on infrastructure sharing, we also need to consider the government’s viewpoint and possibly understand why it feels so strongly towards it. The government is obliged to ensure that consumers receive fair pricing for goods and services while it also protects the businesses in telecoms. These are the motivations behind this move…
In threatening Econet with havoc if they don’t share infrastructure, the ministry of ICT missed an opportunity to appreciate the significant contribution that Econet’s investment in infrastructure has made. But all this would be easier to say if Econet themselves were fair in the ecosystem they play in.
Operators would rather “go it alone” than share infrastructure despite the fact that there is an opportunity for cost savings of up to 40%. To the consumer it makes absolutely no sense that they should have to pay higher tariffs for a service when there is a clearly a better way for all stakeholders to…
Telecash may have faced a seasonal drawback in the Telecel versus government tiff early this year but they look set to grow stronger with the right formula. Recording 1 million subscribers from launch last year in January, they can easily reach the same user ratios as Ecocash.
Smartphone penetration is very low in Zimbabwe trailing far behind other nations like South Africa at 30% and Kenya at 67%. But who should be responsible for equipping the nation with these devices?
TelOne has increased the speeds of its ADSL packages, offerings downloads of up to 4 Mbps on part of its lineup. This looks like another adjustment to shore in more subscribers in a tough environment and will likely trigger more changes from other operators.
The smartphone penetration rate in Zimbabwe is approximately 15% which actually means that about 85% of all mobile communication in Zimbabwe is largely through dumb phones (mbudzi) and feature phones. These are some humbling statistics in terms of what it actually means for developments in broadband.
Telecel has again launched a reward based Night Chat and 073-4-Free Weekend promotions hot on the heels of the Super Voice Bundles. The Night Chat promo offers its subscribers unlimited calls during the night and the 073-4-Free Weekend rewards customers for $4 airtime purchases during the week by unlimited calls Saturday night to Sunday midnight.
Telone Center for Learning in conjunction with Potraz will hold a Southern Africa (SADC) Telecommunications Symposium on the 9th to 11th which will focus on Infrastructure Sharing. The event is an exclusive meetup of top level management responsible for or involved in network infrastructure negotiations and policies.
Telecel is en route to getting back in the game with its latest Super Voice Bundles offering which avails 50 and 200 voice minutes from a $1 and $2 airtime purchase respectively.
Recently, Strive Masiyiwa, the founder of Econet Wireless, was interviewed on CNN. He shared some perspectives on African broadband, the opportunity and power of technology and the internet, as well as the 100 km of infrastructure that his company is building every week across Africa.
Zimpapers CEO Pikirayi Dekete reports in an Zimpapers AGM sideline interview that digital content is generating 3% of their annual revenue and they have at least 300,000 subscribers on their SMS and MMS mobile news and classifieds platforms.
Before we announce any event we now always ask ourselves “Would I be excited about attending this event? Would I feel it’s addressing the things that are important to me? Would […]
Mobile and home Internet in the future is going to be accessed mostly through WiFi and IAPs will provide free last mile connectivity, or close to it. WiFi will be available everywhere resulting in the decline of Mobile Data consumption and Voice calls.
This is a review of the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge, the flagship device from the mobile devices giant. With outstanding specs, and a great design it easily looks like the best device on the market. But is this blend of art and science worth $1,305?
A Zimbabwean tech startup, Esaja.com which was founded by Clinton Mutambo, has been selected for an accelerator program in a Rwandan tech incubator called think. This incubator and these programs are another example of mobile network operators’ in tech startups.
Local Internet Access Provider Powertel has unveiled a new set of internet packages for its Winter Data promotion. These packages range from a $35 for 15 GB service to a $175 unlimited uncapped package that brings back an unlimited internet service to Powertel.
If you thought we don’t have any attempts at online trading and commerce in Zimbabwe, think again. Take a look at these 12 platforms that have been around for a while. Some very big companies like Food World have setup online shops with a variety of payments options you could find anywhere across the world.
Minister Dokora sparked a genuine discussion on the use of cell phones in school but parents were just emotional in their responses without looking at the bigger picture. Dokora is right, devices should be allowed in school.
A new form of SIM Card that removes the need for roaming and lets you use the same SIM even across borders, without added costs, has been adopted in Brussels. If this is made available even locally, it could add a certain level of competition that would change telecoms.
After more than eighteen months, Econet has finally secured the go-ahead from the South African authorities to start an EcoCash Diaspora remittances service from South Africa to Zimbabwe