Econet reached out to inform us that all its customers have been whitelisted for 5G. Before you could not access 5G on Econet even if you owned a 5G capable device. Well, according to Econet that’s no longer the case. If you have a 5G capable smartphone you should be able to connect to 5G at any of their locations with 5G. [Update] You still need to contact Econet to get your SIM card activated.
Not all devices will be able to connect right now
In my previous article I mentioned that 5G in Zimbabwe is still under the Proof of Concept testing stage so coverage is very limited and so is device support. When it comes to device support this is how it is looking.
Most Chinese brands can connect to Econet’s 5G out of the box. I managed to test Tecno and Huawei so you can be sure that the 5G versions of these brands will connect with no issues.
Econet recently finished tests with Apple and the iOS 16 update brought the 5G feature to 5G-capable Apple devices. So all 5G capable iPhones and iPads should be good to connect to Econet’s 5G now.
At the moment of writing this article, Samsung devices are still undergoing tests so they may not be able to connect to the 5G network. However, Econet assures us that they are in the very last stages of testing so the wait will not be long.
What is interesting about device support is that for a couple of brands, access to 5G is coming via software patches or updates. So for some of you, it’s probably a case of your phone’s software being outdated and needing an update for you to get the 5G working. So here is a checklist that you can do before trying out 5G.
- Ensure your device is 5G capable
- Make sure your software is up to date
- Restart your device
- Buy some mobile data
- Make sure your location has 5G coverage
Where is the 5G?
Econet now has 22 operational 5G base stations scattered all over Zimbabwe and the sites are:
- Avondale
- Newlands
- Greendale
- Sam Levy’s
- Econet Park
- RGM Airport
- Holiday Inn (Harare)
- Club chambers
- Belgravia
- ZESA HQ
- Makoni shops (Chitungwiza)
- Zengeza Main
- NSSA House Bulawayo
- Anchor house Bulawayo
- Econet house Bulawayo
- NRZ Bulawayo
- Rainbow Hotel
- Mimosa House
- NRZ Victoria Falls
- Spar (OK) Victoria Falls
- CABS Gweru
- Rothbat Building
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22 comments
It will be nice if we could also get those speeds on the business and home fiber as well, where the speeds are needed more
This is well appreciated. It’s unfortunate, we have been left out in Dzivaresekwa. May we please have this here as well. We would appreciate it if the Base Station which covers the so called Gunhill Area of Dzivaresekwa be upgraded as well.
Can you confirm with Econet about those sites you have just listed as having 5G. Last month Econet customer care informed me that in Harare only Avondale had 5G. I had seen that list you just gave us.
I can confirm that it it there is Avondale, Sam Levy and Harare CBD from tests I have done myself
So close but left out in Mabvuku. We need the 5g speed too. Hopefully it will come as expected
Akomana unzaiwo kuchitungwiza unit L
😁 Zengeza 3 also
Bring it to Isabella Mine in Bubi district MatNorth
Domboshava is left out
We also need 5G base for Gwanda please!!
Kwekwe mukatii nayo
KoKadoma yacho
How about mbare
Kkk scattered all over Zimbabwe????
Harare Bulawayo and vicfalls are now Zimbabwe….reminds me of American singers who stage shows a few in Europe and call it a world tour
Ok, obviously marketing overdid their job letting everyone know 5g was (technically) here, and under-did it with letting everyone know who, when and where! Hopefully the rollout will catch up with the marketing someday!
This is to distract us. They should give us LTE speeds for now instead of just jumping to the next big thing and making noise.
True. We have matured technologies that have long since been optimised deployed out here yet they have never (outside of demo’s) come close to mid performance, nevermind peak performance.
Concurred
The picture you used at the top of your article shows 5G at a speed of 20.4 kbps
A decade ago Econet announced 3G when actual tests we carried indicated that is was infact 1.5G
Well that’s how companies market. The country hardly has effective 4G outside cities so I am not excited at all about this. I am good with my Liquid 4G.
If they could give reliable 4G first the better.
Thank you Tech Zim for being informative.Thank you Econet for moving ahead with time.Please we also need 5G in Marondera
The word scattered has a new meaning then