Liquid not panicking over Starlink entry
VIMBAI TANDI
The entry of Starlink, a satellite internet constellation, into the Zimbabwean market will not intimidate one of the country’s leading internet service providers, Liquid Intelligent Technologies, with the company saying competition remains a natural aspect of business.
Liquid recently slashed prices by at least 45% with observers saying it was a reaction motivated by panic as Starlink heads to Zimbabwe.
But the company Regional Commercial Officer for Central Africa, Lorreta Songola, said the new competition will not affect them.
“It doesn’t affect us,” she said.
“It’s just a normal competitive environment. So I will give you an example, we have it in Rwanda, we have it in Zambia, we’re still operating the same. I guess maybe in Zimbabwe it was a price point issue,” she said.
“But if you look at the example of this new packaging and if you compare it with other promotions, we are actually improving. So when you’re starting anything, it starts from a phase and it’s got a baseline.
“That’s what we are simply doing,” she said.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa recently announced that he has approved the licensing of Starlink to provide internet services to Zimbabwe with a company called IMC Communications.
