Zimbabwe has joined the ranks of six other African countries with the introduction of a long-term evolution (LTE) network.
Econet Wireless Zimbabwe yesterday announced the launch of its LTE services, in the resort town of Victoria Falls, currently host to the Zimbabwe and Zambia United Nations World Tourism Organisation general assembly.
Zimbabwe's LTE institution follows that of Angola, SA, Namibia, Mauritius, Tanzania and Uganda. Econet is the country's largest mobile operator, with over eight million subscribers, followed by Telece, with about 2.6 million subscribers, and NetOne, with about two million.
Econet Wireless CEO Douglas Mboweni says the hosting of the tourism event was an opportunity to show the world that Zimbabwe is not dead and buried. "We are very much alive, and we have kept pace with developments in the world."
Mboweni adds that his group, which includes sister companies Liquid Telecom and ZOL, has invested heavily in telecommunications services in Victoria Falls. He says work is in progress to launch LTE in the country's major cities, including Harare.
Econet Wireless, which has a customer base that is primarily made up of business entities, claims it was one of the first operators in Africa to launch 3G.
According to the country's regulator, the Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe has a mobile penetration rate of 97%, and over 4.5 million Internet subscribers.
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