ZOL announces uncapped internet. Offers one of Zim’s lowest priced broadband

L.S.M Kabweza Avatar

ZOL InternetAs internet prices continue to fall in Zimbabwe, Liquid Telecom subsidiary ISP, ZOL, announced yesterday the introduction of unlimited internet to replace its capped packages. In a message to customers ZOL said that effective immediately all broadband packages will no longer incur additional usage charges as internet caps are “a very archaic method and it is time to move on.”

We agree it’s archaic and we are happy ZOL is reacting to the changed market. Reacting being the keyword here because we think it’s in reponse to the surprise move by Utande in April. Like we said then, everything has changed and the competition will have to move into this new pricing reality.

So what exactly changes? Here’s an extract summary of the old price sheet:

zol-old-prices

So, to pick the 1 mbps package, for each extra gigabyte beyond the 4 GB cap, you’d pay $35. ZOL is basically scrapping those extra charges meaning you will have unlimited internet for $115 at 1mbps.

As for how that compares with other fixed broadband providers, well, if you use more than 20GB of data and uMAX happens to not have coverage in your area, this is a great deal. Being part of the Liquid/Econet family, ZOL has the widest coverage locally!

ZOL’s pricing is also better than the once leading TelOne ADSL whose rates haven’t changed since launch. TelOne charges $110 for 1 mbps and caps the usage at 20GB. YoAfrica, another leading ISP locally, charges $250 for uncapped internet at 1mbps.

ZOL’s move means more heat on these other providers and we expect them to announce price reductions – or package improvements – soon.

30 comments

  1. m0nsterz

    Having experienced ZOL’s support when something did not work it will be interesting to see how they cope with more clients. Their installation in Milton Park / Belgravia did not offer what was advertised …$150/month for uncapped 10mb/s

    1. m0nsterz

      In actual fact it took 3 months to get a reply to nearly 10 emails sent. Recipients ranged from support to engineers to CEO. Even a couple of phone calls went without resolution. Eventually ZOL were told to removed the connection since it did not work anyway,.

      1. Itai Manyere

        i share the same sentiments. i called their office and they were to send me a quote and a site visit. that NEVER happened up until today. Did i wait for them? NO!!!! i chose a different service provider who is hungrier to serve the market.

        1. Ndini Wenyu

          I am on gpon @ 150 month since January… decent service

    2. Peter

      We dumped ZOL too a few years ago specifically because their service and support in Byo were abysmal

  2. kthaker

    ok, cool.. so onto finer details now. is this one of those “best effort” types of unlimited internet.. or can they guarantee 1/2/3Mbps all the time…. as UMAX are currently doing?

    1. Méh

      Surely hope they improve

      1. kthaker

        yeah competition between service providers is excellent..and its the end users who benefit from it all 🙂

  3. Méh

    This is certainly great. The faster and more accecible the internet is in Zimbabwe, I am sure the more sites, and hopefully apps will be developed

  4. Jedan

    If you want real broadband try ZARNet, they are good even their support is best

    1. Time

      Prices and speeds please…

    2. Shylet

      I have uncapped ZARNet Wi-Max kit (indoor) its working very well. Their engineers are quick to attend to challenges. They are a smalll org but they are best.

    3. tinm@n

      Hmmm…The same Zarnet that hosted/develop(ed) Gov websites and email?

      To give them the benefit of the doubt:

      How reliable are they?

      What are the speeds?

      How about support quality and response times?

      Is there a website or information source?

  5. Time

    This is a step in the right direction but lets face the fact, Econet/Liquid/Zol have some pretty advanced infrastructure and $115 for 1mbps in 2013 is still ludacris if you have travelled out of Zim and have seen how companies that truly want to bring the internet to their clients no matter their income status really do things.

    Unfortunately in Zim it seems the internet is still somewhat of a high class product unless all you want to do with it is turn off your automatic updates and view facebook in opera mini. Umax I think is the only company striving to bring real internet to the masses though unfortunately their coverage is generally limited to those areas that can already afford Zol and Yo so their efforts may be in vein. Hoping they can expand soon to have 100% coverage of Harare.

    1. Padishar

      I don’t know how to say this without sounding like a grammar snob but it seems people genuinely don’t know the difference (including even journalists!): When you’re referring to something as absurd or ridiculous, the word you want is “ludicrous” whereas “Ludacris” is the stage name of a famous USA based hip hop artist.

      1. Time

        hahaha guess thats what I get for bunking English classes back in school 🙂

        1. Farai Sairai

          +1 Hahaha It’s catching up now 🙂

      2. tinm@n

        People mix up spellings all the time and in an informal setup like this, it is rather cumbersome to look them all up. When it counts, in a formal setup, people make effort.

        You’ve also violated English grammar more times (in your comment) than he did.

      3. Clement W. Siby

        When writing it is proper to use do not instead of the spoken word, “don’t”. It also must be noted that while the word ludicrous may serve to show the extent of absurdity or level of how ridiculous an assertion or situation is, it is perfectly correct to use it as a synonym in this case.

        i quote “but it seems people genuinely don’t know the difference(including even journalists):”. That phrase is in itself erroneous; first in the use of the word “don’t” as illustrated above and secondly, through the use of two adjectives before a noun; “(including even journalists!):”. That should have simply read(including journalists!).

        It is well to correct and educate one another, yet we must do so from a sound footing.

        1. Farai Sairai

          I love this site. Not only do you learn about IT/telecoms but English grammar and spelling as well. Time to scrap the SMS/Whatsapp language and be formal about what we write here. LOL (oops!)

  6. ndozvinei

    still too much, internet should be as common and cheap as cabbage during a funeral. still waiting for that day to come

    1. Ndini Wenyu

      prices will come down but Internet will never be as cheap as cabbages!..

  7. Harlin

    Just called ZOL – this article may need need updating – am being told all packages are now UNLIMITED announcement being issued on Monday = ALRIGHT wait for the UMAX answer – lol

    1. L.S.M. Kabweza

      All packages to include VSAT and ZOLspot?

      1. Fourwallsinaroom

        No this does not include VSAT and ZOLspot as per the article sent by Team ZOL.

        That said I ran a speed test today on a 1Mbps link and the results 0.18Mbps Down 0.02Mbps Up. This is obviously a highly contended link because all other factors such as signal strength to my base station was optimal, no other devices connected as I was going straight from the LAN port on my device. Now, compare this with my Econet WiMAX (Dongle) (Same base station mind you) I am getting 1.1Mbps Down 0.5Mbps up. I would rather pay the $12.50 for 500Mbps and get a quality connection that allows me to roll over my data and at the current $115 for unlimited yes I would get approximately 5Gb but I can live with that as long as I have a quality link. I think ZOL needs to work out how they shape their traffic and what Qos model they are using. The only way to go with ZOL I would believe is CIR in which case might as well get Liquid service via fibre and bypass the ZOL element. My two cents however.

  8. Farai Sairai

    Yikes, still expensive. $115 (R1100) compared to my uncapped access at WebAfrica for about R350 on 1MB. I think they are trying to control the market as they have a huge infrastructure and can in a way offer internet access to a the lager population than other service providers. More like their Econet counterparts where people use them because they can receive cellphone signal just about everywhere in Zimbabwe hence they are willing to charge a premium on their services on their network.

    Plus they do not want to lower the ARPU yet. Some shareholders still looking at their pockets to see if they are still filling up as fast they were before. It is Zimbabwe after all! 🙂

  9. fungaizw

    Econet Wimax Dongle probably is the fastest I sometimes download at more than 7Mbps Yes 1MB per second

  10. Daniel

    We have a 7Mb/s connection which sadly runs at less the 3Mb/s so much for fiber..

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