JOHANNESBURG – The country’s telecommunications sector is going through a revolution. Just over a few years ago, a cellphone was a status symbol. Having more than one would have qualified one for the title
But in just a year, a cellphone has become just but one of those ordinary things that everyone has.
Far from the days of a cellphone being preserve of urbanites, it is now as much rural as it is urban.
Speaking to a mother while harvesting her crops deep in rural Chiendambuya from thousands of kilometres in a foreign land on her mobile phone could have been unthinkable.
Thanks to the latest telecommunications revolution, rural Zimbabwe is now in the loop. But just how big a change have cellphones made to Zimbabwe?
Where people used to travel hundreds of kilometres to convey messages, get services and buy stuff, they can now easily make an order by phone.
Communications have become much easier between families and the general cost of communicating has drastically been reduced.
Competition between the country’s three mobile network operators, Econet, NetOne and Telecel, has seen prices dropping down in some instances to as much as US$ 1 for a sim card. Just over a year ago, that would have gone for anything above US$30.
Almost one in five adults now carry a cellphone in Zimbabwe. In just over a year the number of Econet mobile phone subscribers has grown from 400 000 to about 4 million – while the number of landlines remains static, even in government offices.
There has been also a big change in how business is conducted, particularly in the media industry.
Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) television and radio stations now interact with viewers and listeners via sms. The Zimbabwe Music Awards (ZIMA) also uses the sms platform to choose winners.
Interestingly, a group of kombi drivers plying the Mufakose to City route now have an sms group which they use to alert each other on traffic police roadblocks.
In a country still gripped by various health problems, health organisations use sms to advise on proper health conduct.
Political parties have also embraced the use of technology. Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s party makes effective use of the cellphone platform to communicate with its supporters and journalists.
However, there are problems with the network, particularly in rural areas where people still have to climb up anti-hills to find networks. They also still have to walk long distances to nearest shopping centres to charge their phones.
From time to time many people also get unsolicited advertorial sms from small scale business people who at every opportunity collect people’s numbers and use sms to widen their customer bases.
Many people can now do banking on the cellphone, buy airtime and send money by just a click of a button – making paperless transactions a reality.
The platform is also use most importantly to spread rumour, humour and information. For example a video picture message of President Robert Mugabe changing into a baboon is just one of the many humourous messages that Zimbabweans have been exchanging recently.
Econet is leading the way and going global. Thanks to its efforts it is now possible to use your phone while out of the country, something which many techno-savvy Zimbabweans could only do in neighbouring South Africa.
As if this was not enough, Econet is rolling out internet connectivity everywhere in Zimbabwe, a system otherwise known as 3G.
It plans later this month to launch the country’s first mobile WiMax network, a fourth generation system of communication allowing high speed internet.
This will allow users access to the internet using mobile accessories such as laptops, netbooks, smartphones, gaming devices, cameras, camcorders, music players and other gadgets, creating a little America in Zimbabwe in terms of connectivity.
Post published in: News