Econet suffers internet blackout

ECONET subscribers in Bulawayo and some parts of the southern region were left stranded after they failed to access internet services following a fault in the company's signal links.

The internet service has been down since around 4PM on Tuesday, cutting off thousands of subscribers who use the internet.

Econet spokesperson, Ranga Mberi yesterday said Econet engineers were working flat out to rectify the problem. "A fault on some of our signalling links resulted in customers in some areas of Bulawayo and surrounding areas facing challenges accessing internet services on our network. Our engineers responded speedily and full service has now been restored in Bulawayo. However, some of our customers in parts of the southern region are still receiving intermittent service and our engineers are working hard to resolve this in the shortest possible time.

"We will keep our customers updated on progress. We regret the inconvenience this caused our customers," he said.

However, Econet customers in Bulawayo yesterday said the service was still down and making it impossible for them to communicate through related platforms.

Some of the customers slated Econet for not informing them or apologising through the sms platform.

"The Econet internet service has been down since Tuesday. The challenge is yet to be resolved because I'm still failing to access the internet and WhatsApp," said Mandla Sikhosana, a subscriber from Bulawayo.

"What irked me is that I did not see any apology on my phone from Econet. I had to phone around using my airtime to find out if I was the only one experiencing problems."

Sikhosana said the fault had inconvenienced a lot of people since the internet service is the major source of communication.