Chronicle Editor
MOBILE telecommunications firms recorded a 37,5 percent growth in revenue to $8,94 billion in the quarter ending December 2020 pushed by increased demand for data services, the industry regulator said.
According to the Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (Potraz), the number of people using mobile phones was up 3.2 percent during the period to 13 191 708, pushing the country’s mobile penetration rate to 90.5 percent from 87,7 percent.
“Mobile Internet and data traffic grew by 13.1 percent to record 16 834 terabytes in the fourth quarter of 2020 from 14 878 terabytes recorded in the third quarter of 2020,” the regulator said in a latest report for the period under review.
During the period, active internet and data subscriptions grew by 1,7 percent to reach 8 875 649 from 8 726 904 in the previous quarter.
“As a result, the Internet penetration rate increased by one percent to reach 60,9 percent from 59,9 percent recorded in the previous quarter,” Potraz said. Despite the increase in the number of people using mobile phones, the amount of voice calls made in the three months declined 3,3 percent to 1,51 billion minutes compared to the previous quarter. It also cost the three mobile services operators Econet, Telecel and Net One, more to run and maintain the networks as operating costs sharply grew 125,5 percent to $5,7 billion. – New Ziana.
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