The Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of
Zimbabwe (Potraz)’s 2019 second quarter (Q2) revealed that the total
number of active mobile subscriptions in the country has grown by 1.8% to
12,354,315. The highest growth being attributed to NetOne Cellular which grew
by 6.1% in the quarter.
The sector performance report, issued every quarter by the industry regulator, revealed NetOne Cellular was the only operator to increase its customers base by 6.1% in the past three months from March to end of June 2019. NetOne’s market share grew from 21.4% to 22.3%. Whilst the other operator that experienced growth in this quarter only grew by 1.3%
The recently published report indicated that while NetOne added over 159 000 new customers to its subscriber base in the quarter, from 2 593 444 in Q1 of 2019 to 2 752 458. Telecel lost over 55 000 subscribers from 1 080 606 at the end of March 2019 to 1 027 445 as at end of Q2, 2019.
On the Internet and mobile data front an 8.2% decline
was recorded for the mobile sector, data usage declined to 9,367 Terabytes from
10,201 Terabytes recorded in the previous quarter. This is the first quarter in
one and half years to record a decline in mobile internet and data consumption,
the report revealed.
However, despite the decline in internet and data usage, NetOne gained market share of internet and data usage by 0.8%, whilst other Econet and Telecel lost market share of internet and data usage by 0.5% and 0.3%, respectively. The report attributed the growth to NetOne’s favorable promotional bundles and packages.
The report further revealed that NetOne is the only
operator whose mobile revenues grew by 1.1% whereas Telecel`s market share
remained unchanged and Econet lost 1.1% mobile revenues market share. NetOne’s
mobile revenues were up from 13.7% to 14.8% despite the unstable economic
climate in the country.
The Director General, Dr Machengete commended
NetOne for the growth in market share, revenues and mobile data and internet
usage and encouraged MNOs to cut costs, invest in alternative sources of power
and focus on revenue growth strategies in the face of depressed demand and
inflation.
