VoIP & CDMA operator, Africom, finally interconnects with NetOne

L.S.M Kabweza Avatar
Some Africom CDMA devices on display at the Africom HQ in Harare
Some Africom CDMA devices on display at the Africom HQ in Harare

Africom, the one telecoms operator in Zimbabwe that has been deliberate about it’s new VoIP offering, announced yesterday that they have finally interconnected with NetOne, the last of three mobile operators in the country. The interconnection agreement has been finalised a whole two years after Africom interconnected with Econet, Telecel and fixed line operator, TelOne. The huge delaye is probably just red tape more than anything else.

Even as NetOne is the smallest mobile operator locally in terms of number of subscribers, the lack of interconnection with it made the Africom voice service incomplete. As an alternative for voice communication locally, Africom and other VoIP (and other non-GSM) operators offer rates much lower than the three GSM mobile operators Econet, NetOne and Telecel. Calls within the network are priced and 6 cents a minute and 12 cents a minute. Compare this to 23 cents and 25 cents respectively that the mobile operators charge.

The uptake of VoIP services has however been lacklustre at best, we’re thinking mainly because the user has to invest in other services (internet, computer/smartphone) to access it, which just increases the actual cost of the services. With CDMA, the issue of having to buy a new CDMA device has also caused slow uptake.

2 comments

  1. moto

    this was long over due

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