News / National
Zimbabwe mobile phone race facts
18 Jan 2012 at 05:36hrs | Views
Mobile usage is Zimbabwe rose to 75% in 2011 from 67.5% the previous year but the sole fixed line operator TelOne lost 50,000 subscribers.
Zimbabwe has three mobile operators, Econet, Telecel and state owned NetOne.
Mobile phone subscriber statistics from the Post and Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (Potraz) indicate that all mobile phone operators registered an increase in subscribers which resulted in high tele-density.
Tele-density measures the number of active mobile phone SIM cards and landlines as a percentage of the country's total population.
The growth in tele-density was augmented by development of communications infrastructure, price reductions in SIM cards, phones and information and communication technologies as well as favourable policy environment.
SIM cards which once hit a high of US$150 depending on the network, are now readily available for as low as US$1.
POTRAZ said Econet, the largest mobile operator by network coverage and number of subscribers, has 5,686,000 subscribers, up from 5.4 million in September.
Telecel added on the largest number of subscribers since September (575,000) to close the year at 1,875,000 subscribers.
NetOne, the state owned operator, trails the trio adding only 156,000 subscribers in the same period.
Potraz said TelOne had 337,881 subscribers.
The growth in mobile phone usage was dealt a temporary blow last year with mobile SIM registration becoming mandatory in line with global trends to curb criminal use of mobile phones.
About 2.4 million unregistered subscribers were cut off and the tele-density rate fell from 66 percent to 49 percent.
Despite the increase in the numbers of mobile owners, the growth has also witnessed a slack in service delivery characterised by drop calls, late delivery of text messages, lengthy periods to inquire and top up accounts and general unavailability of network coverage.
However, mobile phone providers blame erratic power supplies for poor service which is forcing them to invest in generators, and outside their core business.
Zimbabwe has three mobile operators, Econet, Telecel and state owned NetOne.
Mobile phone subscriber statistics from the Post and Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (Potraz) indicate that all mobile phone operators registered an increase in subscribers which resulted in high tele-density.
Tele-density measures the number of active mobile phone SIM cards and landlines as a percentage of the country's total population.
The growth in tele-density was augmented by development of communications infrastructure, price reductions in SIM cards, phones and information and communication technologies as well as favourable policy environment.
SIM cards which once hit a high of US$150 depending on the network, are now readily available for as low as US$1.
POTRAZ said Econet, the largest mobile operator by network coverage and number of subscribers, has 5,686,000 subscribers, up from 5.4 million in September.
Telecel added on the largest number of subscribers since September (575,000) to close the year at 1,875,000 subscribers.
NetOne, the state owned operator, trails the trio adding only 156,000 subscribers in the same period.
Potraz said TelOne had 337,881 subscribers.
The growth in mobile phone usage was dealt a temporary blow last year with mobile SIM registration becoming mandatory in line with global trends to curb criminal use of mobile phones.
About 2.4 million unregistered subscribers were cut off and the tele-density rate fell from 66 percent to 49 percent.
Despite the increase in the numbers of mobile owners, the growth has also witnessed a slack in service delivery characterised by drop calls, late delivery of text messages, lengthy periods to inquire and top up accounts and general unavailability of network coverage.
However, mobile phone providers blame erratic power supplies for poor service which is forcing them to invest in generators, and outside their core business.
Source - The Africa Report
