Makeover for mobile networks

Zimbabwe's mobile networks have undergone a makeover. With over a decade of operations, the three mobile phone networks had become known by their access codes; Telecel Zimbabwe was 023, NetOne was 011, and Econet Wireless was 091.

091 had become as big a

Telecel Zimbabwe, whose start-up history saw its offshore partners courting a noisy lobby of small-scale miners, the indigenous business women (IBWO) and the war veterans, then champions of a chaotic land reform programme that triggered an unprecedented economic crisis, hit a perception storm from the beginning. So it changed from its 023 access number to 073. 023, as subscribers perceived, was a network for the unsophisticated and backward, and therefore one to avoid.

Telecel therefore struggled for space, and was for too long the smallest network with just 250 000 subscribers. It has started recovering after the change to 073, and is decorating its campaigns with a dominant yellow colour that is making people think South Africa’s MTN has come to Zimbabwe. Today, Telecel’s subscriber base has grown to 1.2 million, and with a bit of shrewdness, it has begun hunting from its competitor’s territory.

Econet, from 091 to 077

Econet, the biggest network by subscribers at four million, launched its new access number on 2 October 2010, changing its prefix number from the popular 091 to 077. While some of Econet’s customers may have remained loyal to the network because they did not want to change numbers, Telecel immediately launched an ambush on Econet.

Econet hit back launching a first in the domestic telecommunications market: The Ecolife Package. Underwritten by First Mutual Life Assurance Company, the package offers free life cover to subscribers. To qualify for the life cover, an Econet subscriber recharges with a minimum of US$3 every month, and thereafter every dollar goes towards increasing the subscriber’s free life cover.

NetOne, from 011 to 071

NetOne, whose

Post published in: Economy

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