The country’s largest mobile operator, Econet Wireless Zimbabwe, was the only telecoms firm to record a growth in revenue, in the process resulting in total mobile revenue increasing by 2,4% in the fourth quarter of 2016, a report has shown.
BY BUSINESS REPORTER
According to a fourth quarter report by the Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (Potraz), total revenue for the quarter rose to $199,2 million, up from $194,5m recorded in the previous quarter.
“However, Econet was the only operator to register an increase in revenues,” Potraz said.
According to Potraz, the total number of active mobile telephone subscriptions increased by 1,4% to 12 878 926 in the fourth quarter of 2016 from 12 696 303 recorded in the previous quarter, with Econet accounting for nearly half of the market share.
“Based on the active mobile subscriptions, Econet had 49,4% market share, whereas NetOne and Telecel had 36,6% and 14% respectively,” the report in part read.
Econet recorded 1,4% increase in active subscribers to 6,4 million from 6,3 million.
Its total subscriber base grew by 1,6% to 10,1 million from 9,9 million on the same previous quarter.
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Telecel was stagnant at 1,8 million active subscribers, while total subscribers recorded a 1,5% growth to 4,6 million from 4,5 million on the previous quarter.
NetOne recorded 2% growth in active subscribers to 4,7 million from 4,6 million on the previous quarter and total subscribers grew by 1,7% to 5,8 million from 5,7 million in the previous quarter.
Econet has been investing heavily in infrastructure and has so far sunk $1,2 billion. The company has been the pacesetter in coming up with innovative products.
Its mobile money business, EcoCash has helped in enhancing financial inclusion especially among the rural folk.
The service has come handy to mitigate the cash shortages with subscribers being able to make payments for goods and services.
