HARARE, Jul. 15 (NewsDay Live) – Zimbabwe’s largest mobile network operator, Econet Wireless Zimbabwe, says it is investing more than US$200 million to expand network capacity, improve service quality and strengthen infrastructure resilience as surging demand for mobile data places increasing pressure on its telecommunications network.
The investment comes as smartphone adoption, video streaming, digital services and growing reliance on mobile connectivity continue to drive unprecedented data consumption across the country.
Econet Group chief executive officer Douglas Mboweni said the company’s immediate priorities were to expand network capacity while making its infrastructure more resilient to ensure customers enjoy more reliable and consistent connectivity.
“Every year, our customers are consuming significantly more data than the year before. Staying ahead of this growth requires continuous investment in network capacity, smarter technologies and infrastructure that can withstand the challenges of a rapidly evolving digital environment,” Mboweni said.
Econet operates more than 7,000 base stations supporting 2G, 3G, 4G and 5G technologies. The company is progressively retiring legacy 2G and 3G networks and reallocating spectrum to 4G and 5G services to increase capacity, improve speeds and enhance customer experience.
However, Mboweni said the transition is being slowed by the continued use of older mobile devices, particularly in rural communities, where millions of subscribers are unable to access modern digital services.
“We have more than three million subscribers whose handsets are too old to support many of today’s digital services. If you are using a 2G or 3G device, high-bandwidth applications such as TikTok and YouTube will either not work or will deliver a poor experience.
“That is a device limitation, not a network limitation. We are working on initiatives to make new smartphones more affordable so that more Zimbabweans can upgrade and fully benefit from the capabilities of the current technologies we offer,” he said.
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Power supply challenges also remain a major cause of network disruptions, prompting the telecommunications giant to accelerate investments in alternative energy.
Econet is constructing a solar power station at its Tech City campus to supply its Harare operations with renewable energy while deploying an artificial intelligence-powered energy management system to monitor and optimise electricity usage across its network.
The company expects the system to reduce power-related faults by up to 50% before the end of the year.
Mboweni said customers should begin experiencing a more resilient network with greater capacity and fewer outages by December.
“We have made significant progress in a very short space of time, and we are already seeing the impact. By December, customers should experience a network with significantly more capacity, greater resilience and far fewer disruptions caused by power challenges,” he said.
