RYAN CHIGOCHE
Telecel Zimbabwe has introduced promotional airtime to be sold in United States dollar as the country’s third largest mobile network operator taps into the greenback which is critical in running the capital intensive telecommunications sector.
The promotion, Dollar on us, will see Telecel subscribers buying airtime in United States dollar in the form of recharge vouchers or recharge cards at selected Telecel shops, franchises and well as dealers.
Two other MNOs—Econet and NetOne—have dollar-denominated airtime packages.
Telecel Zimbabwe CEO Angeline Vere said the introduction of the Dollar on Us promo is a way of thanking the customers who “have stuck with us through thick and thin”.
“Over and above that this will help customers who only have US$1 not to worry about changing the money in order to buy airtime to make that very important call,” Vere said.
Telecel’s marketing director Christopher Rubatika said a customer who buys airtime worth US$1 will get a 50MB of WhatsApp bundle, 100MB of data, 60 minutes of on-net voice calls and 50 SMS.
He said a customer will also receive the US$1 airtime back to use for voice, data and SMS. This is valid for 24 hours.
