Zimbabwe’s tele-density rose to 74.7% as 2011 came to a close. Mobile phone subscriber statistics we received from the Post and Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (POTRAZ) recently show that all mobile phone operators registered an increase in subscribers since the last release of stats in September 2011.
A country’s tele-density measures the number of active mobile phone SIM cards and landlines as a percentage of the country’s total population.
Econet, the largest mobile operator by network coverage and number of subscribers now has 5,686,000 subscribers, up from 5.4 million in September. Telecel added on the largest number of subscribers since September (575,000) to close the year at 1,875,000 subscribers. NetOne, the state owned operator, trails the trio adding only 156,000 subscribers in the same period. With 1,456,000 subscribers NetOne is now the smallest mobile operator in Zimbabwe.
We posted information about TelOne subscriber figures in a post on the uptake of its DSL services in December. Basically the fixed line operator has lost about 50,000 subscribers in the past two years, and DSL seems not to have helped much to attract new subscribers. At least not yet. TelOne currently has 337,881 subscribers.
2011 didn’t register as much increase in mobile as anticipated when the year started. Zimbabwe started off the year with 67.5% mobile penetration, which fell sharply to 53.5% after the SIM registration exercise, only to start picking up again as the year progressed.
Does this take into account the number of people with more than 1 sim?
Tele-density by just accounts for the Active SIM cards & landlines. It doesn’t account for people with more than 1 SIM or entities that are not people but use phone services e.g. companies.
We covered more of that issue here:
So, just how many Zimbabweans have mobile phones?
So Kabweza, what would a theoretic figure like 100% mean?
that we have about 12.5 million active SIM cards and landlines. beyond that its hard to tell just how many individuals have no access at all esp those in areas where mobile network coverage hasn’t reached. Proper survey required for that.
Many countries register above 100% which is perfectly normal as everyone with a land line in most cases has a cellphone
Would it be appropriate to say this is the voice market share in Zimbabwe? Have tried countless times to get clarity on the issue of market shares (telecomms – Internet, Data & Voice) from POTRAZ but haven’t gotten anything certain.
Thanx for the article, very informative
As at December 2011, yes it is.
i thought there would be a comma something for other operators like Africom, Brodacom
I think POTRAZ doesn’t collect their stats yet. Probably still insignificant
Econet is being undercut they need to watch their cheese lest it be moved… soon