State-owned mobile network operator NetOne was the first to
adjust its charges on Sunday, while Econet Wireless Zimbabwe and TelOne have
indicated that they will adjust their headline tariffs tomorrow.
Zimbabwe’s telcos have been marginally adjusting prices for
promotional bundles, but headline tariffs had not been reviewed since September
2020, despite a general rise in prices of goods and services over the past 12 months.
Information Communication and Technology (ICT) minister
Jenfan Muswere recently told Parliament that the telecommunications sector was
struggling to secure the much-needed foreign currency from the Reserve Bank of
Zimbabwe (RBZ) auction system.
He said the sector needed foreign currency for
infrastructure investment, capital expenditure and servicing rising external
debt, which has soared to over US$1 billion across the industry.
“The foreign currency requirements of these companies is so
huge that it cannot fully be obtained through the auction system,” Muswere
said.
The industry’s latest price schedules reveal that NetOne’s
10 gigabyte (GB) now costs $2 500, up from $2 000, while 25GB of data has been
pegged at
$4 250, up from $3 500. A 50GB data package now costs $6
250, up from $5 000.
TelOne’s new voice tariffs for landline-to-landline calls
have been reviewed upwards to $6,34 per minute for local calls, while
landline-to-mobile tariffs are now going for $7,38 per minute.
The State-owned (TelOne’s) fixed network provider’s 10GB
residential broadband bundle price has risen from $1 082 to $1 499, and a 20GB
bundle for corporate use now costs $2 698, up from $1 948.
Zimbabwe’s largest mobile network operator Econet Wireless,
also adjusted its voice bundles from $0,1070 per second to $0,1668, and SMSes
have been reviewed to $2,05 up from $1,64.
The company’s data bundles have been increased to $1,58 per
megabyte (MB), up from $1,26 per MB.
Potraz director-general Gift Machengete recently said the
country’s telecommunications operators needed heavy capital investments in
order to remain relevant, especially at a time when demand for ICTs surged due
to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Machengete further indicated that foreign currency
shortages were having a significant impact on the sector, and urged government
to find ways of helping the sector.
“The shift to the auction-based foreign currency market
system seemingly eased inflationary pressures, but did not eliminate them
completely as prices for goods and services, including fuel and energy,
continued to be adjusted in line with the dynamics of the new exchange rate
regime,” he said in the latest industry report.
Machengete said forex shortages had implications on network
expansion, upgrade and maintenance, took a toll on the quality of services as
demand for data surged.
He said foreign currency constraints also affected
universal service projects targeted for rural and underserved areas. Newsday
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