Zimbabwean mobile operators now charge 16 cents per minute for voice calls, a marginal increase from the 15 cents per minute they were charging last year. In 2015, Potraz enforced 30% tariff reduction, and had said it would further lower tariffs. The Southern African country’s economy is struggling, with company profits nose-diving. The country has looked to the telecommunications sector – however, revenues in this sector have also started to decline amid intense competition with the advent of alternative and cheaper communications platforms and applications. Mobile operators saw revenues decline by 2.9% in the second quarter 2015 to $183 million. Some are investing heavily into data capacity and capability to diversify revenue streams, while mobile money has also been another area of focus.

Zimbabwe’s government proposes mobile network infrastructure sharing Zimbabwe’s economy continues to recover from a decade of recession under gross mismanagement by the country’s political leaders. The normalization of Zimbabwe’s economy is reflected in the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) forecast of continuous annual GDP growth at around 4% from 2014 onwards. Despite the overall economic difficulties in recent years, the telecom sector has shown considerable promise since the government allowed foreign currencies as alternative legal tender. Mobile penetration has increased more than seven-fold within four years and broke the 100% penetration barrier in 2013 on the back of 3G mobile broadband subscriptions.

The three mobile networks Econet, NetOne and Telecel Zimbabwe are investing in network upgrades to support data services and their fast-expanding m-commerce and m-banking facilities.

NetOne’s parent, TelOne (formerly PTC) still holds a de-facto monopoly on fixed-line services in the country. The government is planning to privatise up to 60% of TelOne and NetOne, either through an IPO or a strategic partnership with a foreign investor. TelOne has been awarded the country’s fourth mobile licence but hasn’t launched a service yet.

Limitations in international bandwidth for the landlocked country for many years held back development of the internet and broadband sectors, but this has changed since fiber optic links to several submarine cables have been established via neighboring territories. Massive expansion of 3G mobile broadband services across the country has meant that more than half of the population now has access to the internet. The first commercial LTE services were launched in 2013, while investment in LTE technologies, for which the regulator has assigned spectrum, continues.

Estimated market penetration rates in Zimbabwe’s telecoms sector end-2015 (e)

Market Penetration rate:

Mobile	108%
Fixed	2.8%
Internet	48%

 

Key Developments

• Liquid telecom extends wholesale FttP services to Victoria Falls
• Brainworks Capital withdraws bid for Telecel
• TelOne expands fibre footprint, expands WiFi infrastructure in Harare
• Econet expands m-commerce
• New ICT policy to be submitted, revising the 2010 plan
• Regulator reduces mobile voice tariffs effective from January 2015
• ICT Ministry revokes Telecel’s licensee for failing to pay $137.5 million debt and licence fee
• TelOne providing satellite broadband with Avanti Communications
• Renegotiated USF contribution hampering the regulators ability to resource $62 million in mobile and broadband projects
• Telecel Zimbabwe launches Telecash mobile money service
• Government increases licensing tax, imposes additional levies and a customs tax on mobile handset sales
• Mobile and broadband market continue strong growth
• TelOne and NetOne privatization planned
• Fourth mobile license in progress