Politics haunts Econet's 3G network rollout: industry players

Nyambirai said Econet had already completed the development and installation of GPRS and 3G network infrastructure but indicated the launch of the service was still “awaiting the allocation of frequencies by the regulator.”

The Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (POTRAZ) allocates frequencies and telecommunication licenses in the country. It has been sitting on Econet's application "for well over two years," an industry executive said, declining to be named.

He said there was a general feeling in the industry that the decision not to grant Econet the 3G frequencies “had become political.”

The company won its operating licence after a protracted legal battle that ended in the country's high court. Its group CEO, Strive Masiyiwa, who has lived in South Africa for the past five years, is widely believed in ruling party circles to be aligned to the opposition, allegations which he has previously denied.

Econet, has 60% of the local subscriber share, with privately-owned Telecel Zimbabwe, and state-run NetOne sharing 17% and 26% of the local market respectively.

The other two networks have been completely unable to increase network capacity due to foreign currency constraints.

POTRAZ officials could not be drawn into explaining the reasons for the delay in the allocation of frequencies to Econet - they insisted on taking questions in writing.

Econet was scheduled to have launched the 3G service in early 2007 after ordering the relevant equipment in 2006 from Swedish telecoms manufacturer Ericsson for an initial capacity of 50,000 lines for the service.

The 3G service was targeted at the high-end market, comprising mostly business executives, professionals and senior government officials, and its launch in 2007 would have made it the third country in Africa to offer the technology after South Africa and Mauritius.

Now, even Econet Wireless Kenya, the nascent operation in the Econet Wireless Group, could be launch the 3G service much earlier than the Zimbabwean operation.

Zimbabwe has been held back from taking advantage of a booming mobile phone industry in Africa due to an economic recession dominated by foreign exchange shortages that have hamstrung mobile phone network operations in the country.