Zimbabwe’s second largest mobile cellular company, Telecel has seen its subscriber base reach slightly above one million, a senior official told ITNewsAfrica.com.
“Telecel Zimbabwe now has close to a million subscribers”, commented Telecel Globe chief executive, Kai Uebach, adding that improvements have also been noticed in the quality of the network signal, said to be poor in the past.
He said that Telecel Zimbabwe had invested heavily in developing its network, hence the increase in subscribers.
Prior to the latest development, Telecel Zimbabwe had slightly above 500 000 subscribers, but significantly improved the numbers, following massive rollout.
Telecel also rolled out in the region of 170 base stations countrywide, a positive development aimed at attracting more clients.
“Telecel had also invested heavily in stabilising the network, through investing in generators and batteries so that the network could continue operating well even during prolonged periods without mains electricity”, Uebach said.
He however denied that there had been any externalization of funds, contrary to former acting chairperson, Jane Mutasa, who previously made allegations of funds externalization in the media.
Base stations and other equipment, not manufactured in Zimbabwe had to be purchased from outside the country at competitive prices, he added.
The Telecel Globe chief executive also attributed the huge increase in Telecel subscribers to the company’s reduction in the price of SIM cards to two dollars, including one dollar’s worth of air time.
He mentioned Telecel’s lowering of the cost of international calls to countries where there were substantial numbers of Zimbabweans.
He pointed out that both these moves had benefited ordinary Zimbabweans considerably.
Uebach confirmed he had met with the Posts and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority and government ministers to assure them that Telecel Globe would comply with legal requirements for it to reduce its shareholding to 49%.
by Mercy Mujuru
