Econet not treating us as buddies

Gwanda residents have expressed anger at the giant mobile phone service provider Econet Wireless for not showing signs of wanting to invest into the commitment from the residents of the town.

In a complaint brought to the attention of media, the residents claim that they have to spend long hours in open weather waiting to be served at an Econet Shop in the town's CBD.

According to the residents Econet closed off all other agents from offering Econet services and directed the services to the only econet shop housed in a container. The four foot container cut into half to create office space can take no more than ten people at a time yet there is always about a hundred people waiting to be served outside the container.

A resident of the town Mr Velile Mhlanga who brought the issue to media accused Econet Wireless for not caring about the welfare of its customers. He said judging by the stature of the company, if Econet really cared they would by now have invested in building a proper shop or at least renting a shop in the town.

"There are a lot of commercial stands which have been offered before but they never bothered to apply for the stand and not even consider renting property to operate from," he said.

A snap survey on a sample of people in the town showed that 60% of people in Gwanda are Econet wireless subscribers. Almost all of the sampled people raised exactly the same concern on the service provider.

The residents claimed to be spending long hours in the hot sun to get services like registering a new sim card or updating their records. Recently, the giant company sent out messages to some of its customers asking them to report at the nearest Econet shop to update their details. Hundreds of customers flocked to the small container shop daily to submit their details.

"I got to the Econet shop at around 9 in the morning and endured the 40 degrees hot sun for close to five hours before getting a chance to enter the container," said one resident Sibonile Sibanda.

Mildred Dube from nearby Mtshabezi rural areas said that it took her two days to get a chance to submit her details.

"First day I got to the shop around 12pm and was not served by end of the day. I travelled back home and came back the following day by 8am I was in the que which gave me a chance to be served by midday but already the sun had scorched me heavily. It cost me in all more than $20 in transport and food to submit my details to Econet," she said.

Mr Mhlanga claims that when he checked with the local municipality if Econet had applied for a commercial stand for an Econet shop he was told that the company had only made enquiries a couple of years back and never came back. He blasted the company claiming not to be respecting the spirit of the late Vice President Joshua Nkomo who is widely credited with ensuring that Econet got an operating licence.

"Joshua Nkomo from this region fought very hard and was even called a fool by (Joice) Mujuru (former Vice President then Minister of Communication) when he demanded that they be given a licence but now they are neglecting his region," fumed Mhlanga. "There are a lot of very spacious empty shops in the town which Econet can afford at any cost but they chose to roast us in the sun," he added.

Comment could not immediately be obtained from Econet wireless on the matter. The call centre referred questions to the public relations office at had office on Harare.