Econet subscriber base hits 14,9 million

LEADING telecommunications services provider, Econet Wireless Zimbabwe (EWZ) says its customer subscriber base has hit 14,9 million to become a "pace setter" in the industry.

The latest figures were revealed by the EWZ chief executive officer, Doctor Douglas Mboweni as he presented the Integrated Annual Report for the year 2022 this week.

"We maintained customer market share leadership as we focused on addressing customers' pain points. During the period, we added 1,7 million new customers to stand at 14,9 million customers, up from 13,2 million in the previous year," he said.

The Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (POTRAZ) 4th Quarter Report of 2021, also reported that EWZ market share of mobile subscribers closed at 64,9% whilst market share of internet and data traffic was at 75,9%, up from 74,1% the previous quarter.

During the period, Voice traffic increased by 17%, data consumption was up 48% whilst SMS traffic was down 19% compared to the same period last year.

Inflation adjusted revenues increased from ZW$57,9 billion to ZW$87,3 billion.

In line with commitment to enhance digitalisation, Econet launched the first 5G network in Zimbabwe reaching throughputs of up to twenty times higher than 4G amid hopes that this launch will help the group to better understand the 5G technology and explore the opportunities that individuals and businesses can realise from this new technology.

Going forward, focus will also be on deploying new network technology and enhancing the digital lives for enterprises, Small to Medium Enterprises, the government and our business-to-consumer (B2C).

Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) improved by 14% in 2022 from 64% to 73% on the back of improved data connectivity through commissioning of 120 LTE core-located sites across the country.

Furthermore, concerted effort to re-engineer customer services processes and empower Customer Services Representatives to offer First Contact Resolution (FCR) resulted in FCR growth from 67% to 89%.

"We continue to pursue a growth strategy buttressed by increased investment distribution channels, particularly in view of global ecosystem disruptions brought about by Covid-19," added Mboweni.