HARARE - The countrys leading telecommunications service provider, Econet Wireless, has signed an agreement with United Kingdom mobile firm, Orange. Econet Wireless corporate communications manager, Ranga Mberi, said the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange listed telecommunications concern had become the first foreign operator to enter the UKs mobile virtual network market.
Econet announced its entry into the UK market as a mobile virtual network operator in August last year.
In a statement, Orange said that whilst Mobile Virtual Network Operators were quite popular in the UK, with the likes of Virgin Mobile, owned by Richard Branson, this was the first time a foreign operator had entered the UK market, he said.
Mberi said there has been growing interest among a number of companies throughout the world seeking to partner Econet owing to its flagging performance in the continent.
The Times newspaper of London, reported that Orange had to fight off another major operator, Vodafone, to clinch the deal with Econet. The reason for the intense interest in Econet comes from the fact that market research shows that Econet is now one of the most admired businesses amongst Africans, he said.
Econet Wireless operates a similar service with Cell C in South Africa and according to the Corporate Communications Manager, they have developed some unique services for their Diaspora customers.
We have low cost calls to their home country, and also insurance and money transfer for our customers who are abroad, he said.
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