Econet Q3 data usage up 43%
LIVINGSTONE MARUFU
The country’s largest mobile telecommunications operator, Econet Wireless Zimbabwe says its data usage went up 43% in the quarter to November 30 2021 with most companies allowing their workers to work from home due to the Covid-19 disruptions.
In a trading update, company secretary, Charles Banda, said Econet continue to pursue innovation that empowers customers thus transforming society through bringing digital inclusion.
“We play a critical role in ensuring that businesses, families and individuals continue to communicate and work in spite of these difficult times. Bridging the digital divide and delivering a digital lifestyle through connectivity, gaming, and music streaming continued to be an important theme during the period,” Banda said.
He said voice traffic grew by 6% compared to the same period during the previous year. Banda said Econet commissioned 80 LTE (4G) new sites as part of the company’s LTE densification programme, including extension of high speed data coverage to rural areas. He said this bears testimony to Econet’s vision of creating a digitally connected future that leaves no Zimbabwean behind.
During the period under review, Econet received additional spectrum from the regulator which will pave the way for it to introduce new services bringing more convenience to the customers.
However, Banda said persistent national grid power outages continued to adversely affect network availability.
“The business is accelerating installation of solar power solutions and saw increased usage of our already installed diesel-powered generators which are costlier to run and maintain.
“Increasingly, we also witnessed increased cases of vandalism and theft at our telecom tower sites, which is also creating service disruptions,” Banda said.
This has put additional pressure on the business to import spare parts using scarce foreign currency to enable us to respond quickly to service outages. During the quarter under review, the Postal Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe approved increases in bundle tariffs for data, SMS and voice services in order to address the erosion of real tariffs due to inflation.
The group continues to innovate and adapt operations to best respond to business operational changes and deliver services through digital channels.
Econet says the staff work plan and robust digital platforms have allowed the business to sustain productivity and service delivery in addition to being accommodative of employee wellness.
