AudiencScapes

A drop in the price of mobile handsets and the arrival of the fiber optic network in Zimbabwe caused an enormous expansion in the use of mobile phones. With the launch of mobile braodband services, Zimbabwe is undergoing dramatic changes in how people communicate and do business. Chief K. Masimba Biriwasha reports...

Major telecom companies are trying to outdo each other as they battle for a share of Zimbabwe’s mobile broadband internet market. Despite the new services being offered, concerns persist about the reliability of high-speed connections. By Tawanda KaromboHarare, Zimbabwe—Three Zimbabwean telecommunications companies are scrambling for a share of the country’s mobile broadband internet market. Giant mobile operator Econet Wireless Zimbabwe, state-controlled Powertel (a division of TelOne) and rebranded internet services company Africom have all launched or re-launched their portable broadband internet packages for home, mobile and business use. Broadband offers a high rate of data transmission over the internet. The mobile broadband market is relatively small in Zimbabwe.