Yesterday, a Bulawayo state owned publication, the Chronicle, carried an article about the state owned fixed line operator, TelOne. According to the article, an infrastructure upgrade exercise is underway at TelOne as part of a multi-million dollar deal with Huawei International and Alcatel Lucent. The first phase will be complete this month, the article says, and when all work has been completed, TelOne will have a subscriber capacity of at least a million subscribers.
TelOne managing director, Hampton Mhlanga is quoted:
We are targeting at raising our subscribers’ base to 1 million from the present 350 000 once the upgrading is complete. Part of the work will also see two core switching centres being put in place connecting the 153 exchanges on the ground. Looking on the brighter side, our first phase to be rolled out is the Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL). TelOne Broadband is expected to be completed by the end of December. It is our flagship product and it is ideal for residential and small to medium scale enterprises. This is quite a milestone in this ever changing world of new fast paced technologies
To reach the 1 million capacity, Mhlanga goes on to explain that a fibre link running from Mutare through Harare, Kwekwe and Gweru to Bulawayo is almost completed and that ADSL expansion from Harare and Bulawayo to the other cities will follow.
The last time we read TelOne and investment in the same paragraph was back in September when New Ziana revealed the state owned fixed operator had engaged foreign investors to raise US $100m required to operationalise a GSM license the company got in December 2010. Nothing was said afterwards whether they got the cash or not and whether they’re still pursuing mobile.
This latest update is of course good news. TelOne’s ADSL has proven so far to be quite stable but the problem has been capacity of the fixed line network. There are still many residential suburbs and city blocks even in Harare that TelOne says don’t have capacity for additional landlines.
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10 comments
Broadband with Telone great stuff, I would like everyone whose ever had to endure time in an internet cafe to try it it’s simply amazing whether it’s your laptop, smartphone, PC, tablet or even for a previlidged few smart TV, you will have a great internet experience, for me the best in Zimbabwe at the moment.
Can anyone give us more info on their value for money? I am presently considering getting a ZOL Wimax line, but this TelOne line sounds doable.
Is the bandwidth sold to you on the Telone package that which you buy in total, or is it like the ZOL package whereby your bandwidth is only measured between 7am and 7pm?
Thanks.
Ted Von Beefcake: Its the total data limit, Telone has no “open hours” of free bandwidth which is a disdvantage, but to their Adv their data limit is commendably high, with the first option for $30 at an incredible 10GB. Dont even bother with ZOL WImax, the initial costs are heavy as compared to only $3 for the telone modem. True to their word, Telone is still giving true bandwidth even after months of heavy subscribtions so i say its all systems go with Telone. Got a friend of mine with 2M of speed & its just that; 2MBps
what is the process of getting modem? Are they still asking for three pay slip from someone who is going to guarantee and to register for line rental before they sell you a modem or seem card?
Best internet service i’ve received in Zim so far and without any ‘Teenage Bragging’ by some overblown Egotist Marketing Department
You need to go through the whole telone process of applications but they are on a major drive to sign up as many people so they overlook some issues. I didnt have credit references & guarantor but got an account. so dont be scared of the processes they just want to sign up a million people.
telone so far is the ISP delivering the fastest speeds at the most competitive price.try it and you wiil not regret. i proved to my friends at powertel and econet. we went on a race to download 698MB of data and i got mine in a quarete of their time
telone so far is the ISP delivering the fastest speeds at the most competitive price.try it and you will not regret. i proved to my friends at powertel and econet. we went on a race to download 698MB of data and i got mine in a quarter of their time
have got an American friend who has tried all the ISPs in Zimbabwe and got no joy.He finally went to Telone and he says the service is splendid .He says his Skype does not cut but streams continuosly and also You Tube now plays with no breaks.
Keep it up Telone!!!
The main Problem with Telone is that they dont advertise!!!!!!