Category: Broadband
ZOL announces scheduled maintenance from 12 October
ZOL has announced scheduled maintenance between 12 and 13 October; Dear Customer. There will be maintenance affecting service from 12/10/21 22:00 hours to 13/10/21 04:00 hours. We apologize for any inconvenience caused. Message sent by ZOL Zimbabwe to customers As always, should you experience connectivity problems after the stated maintenance times, kindly contact their Support […]
Home fibre internet subscriptions increased by 3.2% in Q2 2021
According to POTRAZ‘s Q2 2021 Sector Performance Report, active fibre internet subscriptions increased by 2.9% from the 53,965 recorded in Q1 2021 to 55,549. Fibre was one of four types of internet and data services that saw an appreciation in Q2 2021. Q1 2021 Q2 2021 Difference 3G/HSDPA/LTE 8,847,103 9,020,133 2.0% Leased Lines 1,135 1,194 […]
Mobile internet usage remained unconquerable in Q2 2021
The charge of mobile internet usage and traffic continued its upward in Q2 2021 according to the latest Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe’s (POTRAZ) sector performance report. Internet Traffic (Terabytes TB) Q1 2020 6,661 Q2 2020 10,407 Q3 3030 14,878 Q4 2020 16,383 Q1 2021 21,865 Q2 2021 23,436 POTRAZ Mobile Data Traffic […]
I’m sorry, but published accounts for ZSE companies are almost useless for many
When a company is listed on a stock exchange like the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE) there are reporting requirements meant to give potential investors the information they need to make informed decisions. As it stands in Zimbabwe, there are too many moving targets for accountants to hit that reporting target. The very first thing to […]
95.2% of Zimbabweans still rely on phone calls, besting WhatsApp’s 38.3%
The Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency (ZimStat) in conjunction with the Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (POTRAZ), today presented the 2020 ICT Access by households and individuals. ZimStat collected the data from the 16th of November to the 10th of December 2020. The findings were gathered through a survey of 10,325 households, both rural […]
ZOL rolls out Wibroniks to 28 new locations
Fresh off a price increase in both local currency and USD, ZOL has announced that it has extended its Wibroniks LTE service to 28 new locations. Our LTE service is now live in more locations near you! Explore without limits. Turn It Up with ZOL for just $100 RTGS.Click the following link to sign up […]
TikTok overtakes YouTube in some countries, what of Zimbabwe?
I am a millennial by every definition of the word. This means I know TikTok exists, I have it installed on my phone and even have an account. I occasionally scroll through the feed, hiss under my breath a couple of times and then exit to return weeks later. Yet, I don’t really get TikTok. […]
Do you have an SA DStv account? You can watch all SuperSport channels for free this weekend
South Africans are starting the weekend early as it’s Heritage day tomorrow so today is the last day they are going to work. There is also a bit of cheer for them and those Zimbabweans who “illegally” have DStv South African accounts-you can watch all SuperSport channels for free no matter what your package is […]
ZOL follows TelOne & will increase package prices next month
Yesterday state-owned telecoms company TelOne announced that it would be increasing package prices at the end of the month. This move has stirred local competitor ZOL to do the same. However, if you remember ZOL increased their package prices marginally last month but this one seems to be closely aligned with the hike that TelOne […]
TelOne internet package prices are going up month-end
State-owned telecommunications company TelOne has announced that it is increasing its package prices from the 29 of September 2021. This price increase follows a month after TelOne’s close competitor ZOL announced that it would be revising prices for its packages in local currency. The new prices are as follows: TelOne residential broadband package prices Package […]
ZOL is now offering MARS ambulance rescue with internet packages
Local internet service provider (ISP) ZOL has announced it is now offering Medical Air Rescue Service (MARS) through monthly internet subscriptions. The service is open to all ZOL customers be they on pay-as-you-go or uncapped bundles. MARS subscription via ZOL costs ZWL$171.00 or US$2.00 per month. To get on the plan you’ll need to sign […]
DStv South Africa ventures into the internet with enticing packages
While we have been busy writing DStv’s epitaph it seems it’s the tidings about the satellite provider’s impending death has been greatly exaggerated indeed. Once again Multichoice has shown that while it is indeed in the fight of its life with streaming companies like Netflix eating into its market share it’s far from done. Over […]
ICT Minister’s remarks on NetOne’s 5G mobile broadband plan
Yesterday, state-owned mobile network operator NetOne held an event where the National Mobile BroadBand (NMBB) Phase 3 was launched. This program would see NetOne install over 300 base stations across Zimbabwe including the capacity for 5G. Below is the speech delivered by Minister for ICTs Jenfan Muswere: Your Excellency, as your Ministry, we are fully […]
700TB of data sent via lasers in 20 days, Liquid and X announce
Last year we covered the partnership between Liquid Intelligent Technologies, the Econet Group and Alphabet subsidiary X. The goal is to connect remote places to the internet, affordably and reliably. Quick recap X has tried various solutions in pursuit of that goal before. For example Project Loon which involved beaming lasers between balloons 100km apart […]
Dandemutande has more on the way on top of Facebook powered Wi-Fi hotspots
Dandemutande is probably the most soft-spoken internet provider in Zimbabwe. Most would be forgiven for thinking that the mobile internet, broadband and VSAT market only consists of ZOL and TelOne. This is of course incorrect because, in terms of market presence, Dandemutande is up there with the other players. The company yesterday held a launch […]
Dandemutande & Facebook launch Wi-Fi hotspots with cheap bundles & 30-mins free access
Local internet access provider (IAP), Dandemutande yesterday held an event where it announced that it has partnered up with Facebook on its international Express Wi-Fi initiative. The program is a way to increase internet penetration by offering Wi-Fi services to underserved communities at affordable rates Location location location With Dandemutande on board, Facebook’s Express Wi-Fi […]
Zimbabwe’s internet speeds versus other African countries
Nobody wants slow internet. In Zimbabwe, we all dream of having that awesome home internet connection that allows us to stream to our heart’s content, download gigabytes in seconds and video chat with friends and family without issues. Unfortunately, the reality is that we don’t always get what we want. Zimbabweans always complain of slow […]
WhatsApp messages are still secure, why the misleading coverage?
You read the story; some report made it appear as if WhatsApp’s end to end encryption was a sham. We were told WhatsApp staff can read our secure messages. Which is true, but they deemphasized a crucial point. Customer service staff at WhatsApp can only see messages that have been sent to them by a […]
How to unblock US Netflix & BBC iPlayer using Openwrt 21.02 and SmartDNS
Not so long ago I wrote a guide on how to unblock U.S Netflix and other services such as BBC iPlayer using an Openwrt router and SmartDNS. That guide is still valid but ever since I wrote that guide there has been a big development. The OpenWrt team released the latest stable version of OpenWrt-version […]
Uncapped LTE data prices Zimbabwe versus South Africa
There is nothing that I loath more than data bundles for specific services and zero-rating. Essentially what you have is an Internet Service Provider or Internet Access Provider going out of their way to be a referee in the content game. It’s the reason why bad apps like WhatsApp triumph over good apps like Telegram. […]
Econet, Netone ill-prepared for data demand, small towns suffer
They say you never really know a person until you have seen them deal with a slow internet connection. I’ve discovered myself in the past two months or so, turns out I might have anger issues. In my defence, how many times can one interact with the No Internet Connection Dino and be expected to […]
Without the temporary spectrum, South African mobile internet will slow to a crawl: MTN
Early this week we learnt that the Council of Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA South Africa’s equivalent of POTRAZ) was going to be taking back the temporary spectrum it had freely given to mobile network operators in South Africa on 30 November this year. We opined this would be devastating news to South […]
Slow mobile speeds on the cards for South Africans as ICASA takes back spectrum
In a move that is bound to have profound effects on South African mobile broadband users, the country’s Council of the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA the equivalent of POTRAZ) has announced that they will be taking back the temporary radio frequency they had given to mobile operators at the end of November […]
TelOne vs ZOL: ZOL ads troll TelOne over suspension of rollover data
Yesterday one of Zimbabwe’s largest Internet Service Providers, TelOne pulled a shocker when it announced that it was suspending its data rollover facility. The facility was only announced a few months ago. In comparison TelOne’s rivals, ZOL have had a rollover facility for close to two years now and it’s still active. In the wake […]
Full Text: In a shock move TelOne suspends their Data rollover facility
In a shocking move, TelOne has just announced that they are suspending their data rollover facility. The rollover facility was only introduced in March of this year two years after ZOL who introduced their own form of rollover in 2019. With a rollover, you would get an extra 30 days to use up your leftover […]
AFRINIC is in trouble as its bank accounts are frozen
Africa’s regional internet registry also known as African Network Information Centre or AFRINIC is in trouble after its bank accounts were frozen. The freeze came about as a result of an ongoing legal dispute between AFRINIC and a Chinese based company known as Cloud Innovation. The fight centres around a block of around 6 million […]
The Internet Society of Zimbabwe will be running a School of Internet Governance next week
The Internet Society of Zimbabwe Chapter (ISOC) will be running an inaugural Zimbabwe School of Internet Governance (ZimSig) this coming week. The three-day virtual worship will run from the 25th of August until the 27th of August. Applications for the event are open now and will close on the 21st of August. In order to […]
Netflix goes after SmartDNS and specialist VPN providers
If you are a Netflix user you probably know that regular VPN doesn’t work if you want to watch content from another county. This is because Netflix has “blocked” all known none-home IP addresses that are typically used by most VPNs. This has led to a rise in so-called specialist VPNs and SmartDNS. These are […]
Mousai is an awesome music identification app for Linux
Mousai App is the equivalent of Shazam on Linux. While it is possible to install Shazam on Ubuntu the user experience and performance are far from ideal. Mousai is a native Linux app which means you will not have to fiddle emulators or manoeuvre with a mouse around an interface made for touch. Shazam a […]
WhatsApp’s “view once” messages are better than nothing
For the past few months, I have been complaining about the way WhatsApp implements its disappearing messages feature. Recently they updated the options you have and now you can send and receive “view once” WhatsApp messages. The feature is kind of self-explanatory. You can choose to send a message that can only be viewed once […]