Category: Connectivity
Starlink future in danger? Scientists calling for ban on low Earth orbit satellites it uses
I know most of us are looking at Starlink as some kind of saviour. We have been disappointed enough by the current internet service providers in this country that we cling to any hope of a new player entering the fray. When Starlink said they were coming to Zimbabwe this calendar year, the excitement reached […]
Election season goodies galore, Zim govt to deploy 300 base stations in 2023
You gotta love election season, especially now when there is little violence. Most of what we are getting now are some last-minute efforts to appear to have done something in the last term. It can be frustrating to see some of these ministries/ departments show that they really could have done more if they put […]
Are Econet and NetOne really saying US$7.50 or US$6.54 for 1GB is not economically sustainable?
I totally understand why it’s frustrating to hear mobile network operators (MNOs) constantly moan that they are charging too little. The sentiment is, ‘you can’t even provide a decent service and yet you want to charge more for it?’ MNOs of course counter with, ‘you are not paying enough to get good service.’ I think […]
Econet partners Ericsson to upgrade network, to improve and introduce new services like VoLTE
Econet Wireless is the largest mobile network operator in Zimbabwe. One has to do something right to get to that position and for stretches, Econet was the obvious choice for Zimbabweans. However, lately, serving their almost 10 million active customers has been a challenge. Last month, in February, Econet data services went down and Econet […]
Starlink introduces Global Roaming which means you can technically use it in Zimbabwe now
The past few weeks have been characterised by network disruptions. Liquid and Econet seem to be competing to see who can irritate their customers the most. We are all now familiar with core network disruptions and fibre breaks. If we’re being honest, it’s not just been the past few weeks, it’s been years of subpar […]
Only a third of Zimbos connecting to the internet in 2023, why so few?
According to DataReportal, there were 5.74 million internet users in Zimbabwe at the start of 2023. That’s 34.8% of the population. This data is from the Internation Telecommunications Union. That sounds too low, doesn’t it? The latest Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority’s (Potraz’s) sector report we have is for Q3 2023 and it talked about an […]
Should we give Econet, NetOne and Telecel a pass for shoddy service? Maybe
Customers are wont to complain even when their complaints are not justified. Businesses are aware of this and customer care personnel are taught, ‘the customer is king, so just smile and take in their abuse.’ Customer service people will tell you stories for days about all that. That may be but sometimes the customer is […]
Zim govt established computer labs at over 1100 schools in 2022, election season is wild
Artificial Intelligence ( AI) is part of everyday conversation because of ChatGPT and Google’s Bard. As we discuss how AI could transform our lives and work, we sometimes forget that not everyone has access to such technology. Yes, currently, we don’t officially have access to ChatGPT in Zimbabwe. That may or may not change in […]
All USSD Codes for Econet, NetOne, Telecel, Banks, and more!
You are looking for a USSD code for something and you can’t quite remember what it is? You are confused about which one is for checking your balance and which one is for buying a bundle. Well here is a full list of all the USSD codes in Zimbabwe for Econet, NetOne, Telecel, Banks, and […]
Zimbabwe to get fibre optics, renewable energy funding from Africa50, is this a big deal?
What no one can dispute is that Africa is underdeveloped. Zimbabwe, for example, needs US$40 billion for infrastructure development currently and has a tiny fraction of that on hand. Where we disagree is on how to remedy that. There are a thousand ideas from a thousand pan-Africanists on how Africa should proceed. That’s not to […]
Starlink getting better, to beam directly to phones and Zambia to get the service soon
We have written about Starlink, Elon Musk’s satellite internet provider. The service is still relatively new but they are already making strides that have us wagging our tails in these parts of the world. Starlink’s next generation satellites are, to quote the man, “almost an order of magnitude more capable than Starlink 1.” Musk did […]
Econet eSim: Everything you need to know
Econet made a bit of a quiet rollout of their eSim service and Econet being Econet they are the first to bring this tech to Zimbabwe. And as it is with new tech we have a lot of questions needing answers. Let’s answer some of these. What is an eSim? eSim is short for embedded […]
Google’s subsea cable meant to improve internet speeds and lower costs reaches South Africa
Earlier this year we talked about Google’s Equiano cable landing in Africa. The first country to be connected was Togo back in March. This subsea cable of theirs should lead to lower internet costs and faster speeds in some African countries in Africa. You can read about the cable here: Google subsea cable lands in […]
Voice, SMS and data prices set to increase two more times in 2022
Still trying to wrap your head around the new tariffs as Econet, NetOne, Liquid, Telone and others increased their prices recently? Sorry to pile it on, but you are going to have to do the same two more times this year. It’s better this way, when the scheduled price hikes eventually hit, you will not […]
Local web hosting company offering SMEAZ members free .co.zw domain for first year, hosting for $1 per month
Is your company a member of the SME Association of Zimbabwe (SMEAZ)? Yes? If you have been trying to improve your online presence there is a sweet deal you are not going to want to miss out on. A local company, Pnrhost is running a promotion to help SMEAZ members get with the times. They […]
Liquid offering unlimited domestic voice calls for a flat fee via OneVoice for Operator Connect
It was late in 2021 when Liquid Intelligent Technologies launched OneVoice for Operator Connect. Liquid is Microsoft’s only distributor for that product in Africa and launched in six markets to start with, Zimbabwe being one of those. OneVoice for Operator Connect integrates traditional telephony calling within the Microsoft Teams ecosystem. With Teams becoming an indispensable […]
NetOne joins the club, raises voice, data and SMS prices but still very cheap
We knew this was coming, Econet raised their tariffs on Wednesday and NetOne will be doing the same. The regulator, POTRAZ, approved of these price hikes and I’ll stand by it, this was long overdue. NetOne’s new, higher prices, will be be in effect on Friday the 15th of July. Here’s what you will be […]
If Google can forget to pay for google.co.za, you should be deliberate about domain name renewal
Ever felt like a dud for forgetting something important, like a loved one’s birthday? Don’t feel bad about that now, turns out even multinational companies like Google with thousands of employees do forget as well. So, next time someone gives you a hard time about your forgetfulness, tell them even Google forgot to renew their […]
TelOne lost US$400K to network vandalism in the first half of 2022
State-owned telecommunications company TelOne has said in a statement that it has lost revenue amounting to US$292,620 in the first half of 2022 due to network vandalism. This figure represents a 64% increase in the instances of thieves making off with TelOne telecommunications equipment when compared to this time last year. “In terms of equipment […]
The Econet 5G router is going for half a million dollars. Yes, you read that right
Zimbabwe’s biggest mobile network operator Econet Wireless Zimbabwe has announced that you can now buy a 5G router from its stores nationwide. The announcement was made on the company’s Facebook page and follows the company’s recent launch of 5G in Victoria Falls as well as installations in Harare and Bulawayo. According to the promotional material, […]
Negative balance on your Liquid Home (ZOL) account likely from modem insurance which has increased
You may have noticed a negative balance on your Liquid Home account. Leaving you wondering why your account is always in the red come top up time. The culprit is probably modem insurance. You probably never read the terms and conditions when you first signed up. You’re only human, nobody reads those terms, I imagine […]
Econet data outage caused by core network “incident”. MNO says service is back up
This afternoon (towards the early evening), social media and WhatsApp were awash with reports of an Econet data outage. Customers were reporting that mobile internet services went dark for most of the late afternoon, while others were saying service was intermittent. We reached out to Econet when we reported the mobile data outage and they […]
What’s going on with Econet’s mobile internet services
We have been seeing reports that Econet mobile internet services went completely off sometime this afternoon. It’s unclear at the moment if this is a nationwide blackout because there are some people who responded to our call on Twitter saying that Econet mobile data was working on their end. Whatsapp groups are also alight with […]
Liquid Home customer support will be understaffed tomorrow
Liquid Home has, in an SMS, notified customers that they will be operating with fewer customer support staff over tomorrow. The message from Liquid Home reads as follows: Dear CustomerOn 16/6/22 our Contact Centre will operate with skeletal staff & resume normal operations on 17/6/22. For self-help visit: https://bit.ly/3zs8F6z Liquid Home vis SMS This message […]
Utande has capped LTE bundles in Byo, Mutare & Chitungwiza. No love for Harare…
While we were in Mutare at the Hillcrest College ICT Expo and Winter Fair, we visited the Utande stand to check out what the internet service provider (ISP) had on offer for customers in the Eastern Highlands. And to our surprise, the team at Utande told us that they had LTE capped or pay-as-you-go packages […]
Hillcrest ICT Expo: drones, FOOD, rugby and supercomputers
Over the weekend, Hillcrest College hosted its annual Winter Fair and Tech Expo. The event was well attended with companies like Liquid Home Utande Old Mutual Fusertech Precision Arial Axis Solutions Zimbabwe Centre for High-Performance Computing and more exhibiting their wares in the Eastern Highlands. Students and attendants were treated to a show from all […]
Sudan shut down the internet to stop students from cheating during exams?
This is one of the strangest things I have seen in a very long time, and I am saying this as a Zimbabwean who is accustomed to the weird and wonderful that is thrown our way regularly. According to Cloudflare Sudan shut down its internet, over the weekend, to spot students from cheating during exams. […]
Starlink is hitting Mozambique & Nigeria this year. How long till we get a crack at it in Zimbabwe?
Elon Musk’s internet service provider (ISP) Starlink was approved in Mozambique and Nigeria recently according to a tweet from the man himself. According to a report by Techcrunch, Starlink’s arrival in Nigeria was said to have been in the works since 2021. The ISP got a 10-year licence that kicks off this year. For Zimbabwe, […]
Connectivity problems in your area? The govt to help you solve them yourselves through community networks
If you’re reading this then you have internet access. Count yourself amongst the fortunate in Zimbabwe. The latest figures from POTRAZ say the country’s internet penetration rate stood at 62.3% in Q3 2021. 62.3% may not sound too bad but consider that over 90% of internet usage in the country is via mobile data and […]
ZOL is now officially Liquid Home & has 60 new LTE base stations
ZOL, today unveiled its new brand identity – Liquid Home Zimbabwe. This rebrand follows the evolution of Liquid Telecom becoming Liquid Intelligent Technologies, a business of Cassava Technologies. ZOL was the only arm of Liquid that hadn’t yet come under the new brand umbrella. ZOL to become “Liquid Home” in the not too distant future […]