[UPDATE]: This article initially stated that Fibroniks unlimited was dropping from $139 to $119. This was incorrect and we’ve made ammends to the article.
Zol has introduced a new service that they are calling WiBroniks. The service will rely on LTE and will be available to subscribers at a later date.
Coolest start to an event yet…
At the onset of the event ZOL were eager to show that they were not playing games. In one of the coolest event openings I’m yet to hear of in Zim, guests were given VR Headsets on their way into the launch room. Once seated we were instructed to download a VR app on the Playstore. The VR experience was just an introduction and it really set the tone and got the crowd excited for what ZOL were about to launch…
What’s WiBroniks about?
WiBroniks is a wireless service that will rely on LTE technology. The router in your house will now connect to a base station and so far there are 105 base stations and more on the way. If you were following the news last year you probably came across the tagline FTTH (Fibre To The Home) a couple of times. Going forward you’ll hear more of WTTH which stands for Wireless To The Home. This new service will rely on LTE base stations -105 base stations for now- around the country.
The WiBroniks packages will look like this:
WiBroniks 5: For $10 you get 5GB and the speed for this and all other packages will be 10Mbps
WiBroniks 10: $19 will get subscribers 10GB at 10Mbps
WiBroniks 25: $33 will get you 25GB and the same 10Mbps
WiBroniks 50: $60 gets users 50GB and once again 10Mbps
Wibroniks Unlimited: $119 will get you uncapped data at 15Mbps
The fan-favourite Night Owl is back with a bang. For WiBroniks Night Owl will cost $15 and offer 25GB for all the packages on offer.
Looking at these new packages and the speeds being promised you really begin to wonder how TelOne will respond to this because this seems to directly compete with their ADSL service whilst offering faster speeds. They will probably be forced to respond to this and this is great for us the consumers.
The timing of this announcement will also be unfortunate for TelOne who are still licking their wounds after cables worth $10 000 were recently stolen, disrupting service in many areas of Harare.
More speed coming to Fibroniks
Last year ZOL had the ad of a cheetah in a Ferrari and this year the cheetah is staying around but it will be upgrading its transportation system. The cheetah will now be in a jet and this is to emphasise the new speeds they are bringing to Fibroniks.
The Lite and Basic packages are getting a speed bump from 5Mbps to 10Mbps respectively. The Family Essentials will be jumping from 10 to 15 Mbps, so Fibroniks users will definitely be welcoming these developments with open arms.
The new services are very interesting and it seems ZOL will continue growing their service and product and offering these refinements.
Share
Home
27 comments
Not clear how this works… Is there a wireless modem at home that then broadcasts a WiFi signal… Telone offers 60hb for 42$ at 3mbps … Still cheaper
I am sure they will be selling modems for you to connect.
So what are the setup costs involved here? Is there need for a modem or all i need is a phone, computer or other such device?
“WiBronikes is a wireless service that will require on LTE” Is it Wibroniks or Wibronikes? and what does “require on LTE” mean ?
I think they just mean Wibroniks will be wireless connectivity that is powered by an LTE (4G) network.
Sorry about that, that’s on me.. its WiBroniks
Well i think WiMax was a good choice for most of us with limited funds. At $49 i would get an unlimited package although the speeds sometimes would be slow. Now that the unlimited package is set at $119, too bad. There is nothing so boring like working and checking your data balance at the same time.
When will this be in KweKwe? Will routers be on special offer incl the sim card? I don’t have satellite tv and watch online streaming which I am unable to do so successfully with Telone…. Always buffering. I would gladly switch asap….. As long as the router is affordable.
The speeds that you are getting and the downloads will make sure the data runs out so fast you will me recharging before you know it. Telone still has a good balance if you ask me
WiBroniks 10: $19 will get subscribers 10GB at 10Mbps
WiBroniks 25: $33 will get you 25GB and the same 10Mbps
WiBroniks 50: $60 gets users 50GB and once again 10Mbps
on telone my budget is 1 gig a day, which will cost me $25 for 30GB and the speed is upto 3MB/S.
If I go onto the zol package for $33 it will cost me $99 a month for that speed.
You have a mistake… “The uncapped package will also now be available from $119 from $139 a month.” It’s $119, not $139.
They are right, zol got some hidden fees eg modem rental and insurance. It might reach 139
ZOL are not being helpful with this product, cannot get anything out of them being outside of Harare?
WiBroniks is available outside Harare in many cities.
Here are the prices for the equipment
The prices for modems are as follows:
Indoor – $250.00
Outdoor – $350.00
From what we know ZOL are yet to decide on the pricing of this device. Once they’ve committed to a price structure and they inform us we will share with our audience
At $250 for a router, it will be out of reach for most ……. I’ll stay with Telone for now.
the router price is just a turn off . now getting that telone connection
If its LTE based can’t we get a ‘sim only’ package? Those router prices make this whole thing moot
LTE operates in a lot of frequency bands, some of the not supported by your phones. The same ZOl service will use USIM cards to subscribe to the next work but the USIM cards will be in the modems. Africom launched their LTE service in Chitungwiza last year in May and offers speeds of us to 14Mbps at $60/month.
Thanks! TIL
I think ZOL needs to publish the bands they are using. There are phones that support these bands. People want this option. The Redmi 5 Plus has a version that supports even US/Canada Bands you just need to know in advance which device to get.
Hopefully the prices will come down. I was of the opinion it would cost less than Fibroniks since there is less physical infrastructure involved. But, I guess they did it so that us existing Fibronkis users wouldn’t ditch Fibroniks for Wibroniks.
Someone should tell them that a cheetah driving a Ferrari and a tortoise driving a Ferrari move at the same speed as the Ferrari. I guess someone at the ad agency missed a physics lesson 😉
For areas where there is no Fibre coverage at all, this might be a better option than ADSL.
you forgot to tell people that YOU HAVE TO BUY A $250 INDOOR MODEM or 350 DOLLAR OUTDOOR MODEM , pretty useless offer
ZOL is yet to disclose to us this information so we can’t disclose and as soon as we have this details we will be sharing with you
Zol sales team saaid the same prices unless or otherwise the stuff is ….
Can we source our own modems? If so what type of modem is required?because at $250 a modem is frankly ridiculous! I have a collection of modems from telone,powertel,africom, econet etc,now this?