TELECOMMUNICATION firm, Econet Wireless Zimbabwe Limited, commissioned over 30 new sites across the country for network expansion during its first quarter ended May 31, 2024, to enhance its service delivery.
In its new trading update for the period under review, Econet said the commissioning of the sites was part of its network modernisation programme to expand coverage in urban, peri-urban and rural areas in Zimbabwe.
“The business recognises the imperative of network modernisation to stay ahead in a rapidly evolving industry. With the advent of 5G, IoT [internet of things] and other cutting-edge technologies, the need for robust, agile and future-proof network infrastructure has become more pressing than ever,” Econet said.
“The business continued to prioritise network modernisation to enhance service delivery. During the quarter, over 30 new sites were commissioned across the country which enhanced network performance and quality of service. The network modernisation programme is planned to continue encompassing additional sites covering urban, peri-urban and rural areas to expand network coverage.”
Econet said increasing its 5G penetration was also a key initiative being pursued and planned to commission additional sites for this bandwidth before year end.
One challenge to increasing its network coverage for the telco, however, is load-shedding.
“Load-shedding on the national power grid continued to negatively affect the business through reliance on costly backup power to maintain the requisite network uptime and to meet the set quality of service standards,” Econet said.
“The business continues to invest in renewable energy sources like solar power.”
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For the quarter under review, data and voice usage grew by 74% and 46%, respectively, relative to the prior year.
“Data and voice revenue contributed 42% and 38% respectively of the MNO [mobile network operator] revenue compared to 33% and 45% same period last year,” Econet said.
“The marked growth in data usage underscores the need for sustained network expansion and upgrades to adequately meet the ever-increasing demand for mobile broadband and digital services.”
The MNO said the business added functionalities to its core network to stabilise and improve service delivery of broadband services in response to the increased data usage.
“Our new cloud-based and modernised core network will offer better service personalisation to meet diverse customer needs,” Econet said.
In the outlook, Econet plans to leverage the reintegration of the financial technology businesses to drive innovation to respond to evolving customer needs.
Econet recently acquired the fintech business of sister company, EcoCash Holdings Zimbabwe.
The fintech business has EcoCash (Pvt) Limited, VAYA Technologies Zimbabwe (Pvt) Limited, Econet Insurance (Pvt) Limited, Econet Life (Pvt) Limited, MARS Zimbabwe (Pvt) Limited and Maisha Health Fund (Pvt) Limited.
“The fintech segment anchored by the mobile money business delivered a strong performance driven primarily by sustained growth of the active customer base and the increasing usage of our suite of digital financial services,” Econet said.
“The mobile money business experienced consistent growth in its active customer base, transaction volumes and values on the US dollar wallet. Active customers grew by 189% compared to the first quarter of the prior year which is attributed to an efficient distribution network and improved product offerings.”
Econet said international remittance values increased by 265%.
“During the period, EcoCash continued to partner with mobile transfer agencies from various source markets to terminate into the EcoCash wallet, leveraging the distribution network for customers to access the funds,” Econet said.
This is expected to drive further growth in remittance values in the coming period.
