Zimbabwe: Telecoms ripe for the plucking

ADSL South Africa (Broadband South Africa), 8 February 2009 

Like many industries in Zimbabwe, the Zimbabwean telecoms industry has fallen into disrepair, leaving telecoms operators in Zimbabwe highly exposed to takeovers by foreign telecoms operators.

Telecoms networks crumbling fast…

Zimbabwean telecoms providers (TelOne, Econet Wireless, NetOne and Telecel) are having a tough time keeping their networks operational due to…

• a direlack of foreign currencywhich isneeded to import spares and equipment,

• the lost of skilled staffto other African countries such as South Africa,

• below cost tariffswhich are highly regulated by the Zimbabwean Government,

• low mobile market penetration(only 15%)

and persistent power failures (especially since the SA Government started to cut back on supplying power to Zimbabwe, not only in order to save face for the upcoming elections in SA, but also to give South Africans a welcome break from power cuts). 

In other words, it’s clear that Zimbabwean telecoms providers are fighting an uphill battle and that the current economic meltdown in Zimbabwe is not helping to improve prospects.

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