Econet subscribers pass 9 million mark

Published: 21 July 2014

Econet grew its subscribers by 4,1 percent in the first quarter of the calendar year to just over 9 million taking its market share to 65,3 percent.

However, industry wide, mobile operators' revenue in the first quarter of the year declined 15 percent to $213,1 million from $249,99 million in the prior quarter, a Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe quarterly sectoral performance report has shown.

According to the report, total investment by mobile operators amounted to $27,9 million representing a 53 percent decline in investment from $59,09 million recorded in the previous quarter.

Fixed telephone revenues increased by 0,7 percent to reach $38,1 million in the period under review while the average revenue per user per month for the fixed telephone sector declined 6,8 percent to $38,68 from $41,48 recorded in the previous quarter.

Econet subscribers leaped 4,1 percent to 9 075 925, recording the largest subscriber market share of 65,3 percent which was a 1,3 percent improvement from the previous quarter.

State-owned operator, NetOne experienced a marginal 1 percent growth in subscriptions to 2 356 815, the firm, however lost 0,1 percent of its market share to 17 percent.

On the other hand, Telecel registered a significant decline in subscriptions of 4,6 percent to 2 459 369 owing to the deactivation of 119 190 lines which had become inactive on their network. As a result, Telecel lost 1,2 percent market share, down to 17,7 percent

During the quarter under review, total mobile traffic declined 0,7 percent to 1,9 billion minutes from 2,4 billion minutes registered during the previous quarter.

The intra-network traffic contributed 73,9 percent to the total traffic. Despite the promotions on on-net calls, the net-on-net traffic declined considerably by 16,9 percent to 1,4 billion minutes.

"The decline in international and roaming traffic is evidence of the increased use of alternative communication platforms such as Whatsapp, Viber and Skype. The increase in the flow of traffic between VoIP operators and the mobile operators is commendable and could be as a result of the operationalisation of more interconnection agreements between Internet Access Providers and mobile operators," said the report.

Potraz says Econet had the highest mobile traffic market share of 49 percent from 47 percent registered in the prior year. Telecel's traffic sagged 1 percent to 31 percent while NetOne slumped by the same margin to 21 percent.

The report said Zimbabwe's mobile penetration rate now stands at 106,4 percent, up 2 percent from 104,4 percent recorded in the last quarter of 2013.

This was buoyed by a 1,9 percent surge in mobile subscribers to 13 892 109. Prepaid subscribers grew 1,9 percent to 13 609 161, while post paid subscribers swelled 2,6 percent to 282 948.

Fixed lines jumped 7,2 percent to 326,183 while fixed tele-density grew 0,2 percent to 2,5 percent from the preceding quarter.

The sub-sector also recorded an 8,1 percent decline in fixed to mobile traffic to 79 174 074 minutes from 86 156 888 minutes recorded in the prior quarter.

Traffic from the fixed network to the VoIP operators increased by 73,6 percent to 270 508 minutes, attributed to the increase in the number of IAPs that TelOne has interconnected with.
- The Herald

Tags: Econet,