Mobile phone subscribers disconnected for five hours

SUBSCRIBERS to the country's three mobile telephone companies, NetOne, Econet and Telecel were on Tuesday morning unable to make or receive calls due to a technical fault at the main control centre in Harare.

The fault, which lasted for about five hours, infuriated subscribers who said the development negatively affected the running of their businesses.

"These people are not taking us seriously. I have been failing to make calls for the past two hours. We use our money to juice these phones and we do not beg for service," fumed one of the subscribers at NetOne offices in Bulawayo.

"They should communicate with customers any development, even   when there are repairs, so that we prepare. As it is our businesses are suffering because we cannot communicate with our clients."

A Telecel subscriber who identified herself as Miss Bekezela Ncube from Pelandaba suburb blasted the operators for poor service.

"The network has not been functioning well today. I have two lines but I have been failing to make a call or send a message," said Ms Ncube.

"These operators are only interested in milking us. They are only good at placing enticing advertisements yet the service we receive is pathetic."

The subscribers also complained that the Internet service by the three operators was very slow. Others said it was very difficult to make a call from landline to a cellphone and demanded that the operators improve their service.

Speaking on condition of anonymity an official from NetOne offices in Bulawayo confirmed that there was a technical glitch in their system.

"Yes our system has not been working since morning because of a technical problem at our control system, which is manned by Powertel in Harare. Kindly  bear with us. The network will be  operational in the next few hours," said the official.

An official from Telecel also concurred.

"There is a technical fault at our main control system and it is affecting all networks," said the official without elaborating.

However, when contacted for comment, an official from Powertel identified as Rose Moyo, denied that there was any fault.

"We have consulted our network engineers and they said there was no problem. You can talk to the operators themselves and find out what the fault is," she said.