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More competition for Zim's VOIP market

By Tawanda Karombo, Journalist
Johannesburg, 13 Mar 2012

Zimbabwe is soon to have a third company offering voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP) services in the country.

Internet service provider Aquiva Wireless plans to start selling its VOIP services in April, making it the next company to enter this market after Econet Wireless and Telecontract.

Aquiva's VOIP will be accessible using any broadband Internet connection, and people will be able to make phone calls using the service on their laptops, PCs or WiFi-enabled mobile devices.

The addition of another VOIP competitor in Zimbabwe comes at a time when Internet voice services are becoming a competitive alternative to mobile and fixed-line voice services in the country.

Mobile tariffs across networks are charged on average at about 25c a minute in Zimbabwe, according to blog TechZim. VOIP tariffs in Zimbabwe, on the other hand, have been capped at 5c for computer-to-computer calls and 11c for computer-to-phone calls per minute by the Posts and Telecommunications Authority of Zimbabwe.

Furthermore, VOIP is fast becoming a more reliable option to that nation's deteriorating landline telecom services, say experts.

Fixed-line operator TelOne's voice tariffs are the cheapest in the country at 3c per unit of three minutes. However, IT consultant Petros Chinodavaviri says TelOne's voice services are notoriously poor, because of regular complaints among Zimbabweans of noise interference. He also says some of the telephone numbers that the operator has are no longer in use.

“There is no reliability with TelOne's voice services,” says Chinodavaviri. “This has forced companies and other individual users to look for alternative voice telephone options.”

Executives at Aquiva Wireless say only a few logistical issues remain before the company is ready to start rolling out its VOIP services in Zimbabwe before the end of next month.

Aquiva's COO, Artwell Mataranyika, says his company has agreements with almost all of the country's mobile and fixed-line phone operators. Aquiva Wireless already offers Mobile WiMax, fibre-optic Internet and VSAT (satellite) connectivity.

Meanwhile, Zimbabwean economist Jeffrey Kasirori believes the increase in the number of companies offering VOIP services in Zimbabwe will bring competition to the sector and boost options for users.

“It is important to have so many players offering a similar service; this will help enhance the quality of the service and also push down tariffs.”

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