Zimbabwe’s telecoms now a billion dollar industry

The regulator noted that on mobile money usage, all the telecommunication service providers recorded growth in subscriptions.

As at 31 January 2017 subscriptions stood at 4 706 778 from previous quarter’s 3 867 676 translating to a 21.7 percent increase.

Econet had the lion’s share with 4 574 409 subscribers, Telecel 79 429 and NetOne 52 940 subscribers.

However, the postal and courier sector continues to record depressed service volumes with revenues declining by 9.3 percent compared to the prior quarter.

Telecel was the only operator to report a decline in subscriptions whereas Econet registered the highest growth, increasing by 4.9 percent from 7 137 171 recorded in prior year to 7 488 588 subscribers as at the end of the fourth quarter last year. Overall, active mobile subscriptions stood at 14 092 104, translating to a 2.1 percent increase from 13 799 648 recorded in the previous quarter.

Mobile penetration rate increased by 2.2 percent to reach 102.7 percent from 100.5 percent recorded in the previous quarter driven by the 2.1 percent growth in active subscriptions.

Econet ended the year with a market share of 53.1 percent, up from the 51.7 percent recorded in the previous quarter. On the other hand, NetOne and Telecel`s market shares declined by 0.1 percent and 1.3 percent, respectively. – The Source

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