adminKiyapili Sibanda, Business Reporter
ZIMBABWE recorded 8.6 percent drop in fixed landline telephone subscriptions in the fourth quarter of 2016 as more clients embraced alternatives such as mobile, Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) and WhatsApp calling, a report has shown.
A third quarter report for last year issued by the Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (Potraz) indicates that local phone calls by Zimbabweans totalled 923,465,449 minutes and this number fell to 843,897,116 minutes in the fourth quarter.
“National voice traffic for the fourth quarter of 2016 was 843,897,116 minutes; this represents an 8.6 percent decline from 923,465,449 minutes recorded in the previous quarter.
“The decline was attributed to the 15.4 percent decline in net-on-net traffic,” said Potraz.
It said inbound roaming in the 3rd quarter of 2016 stood at 1, 469, 489 minutes compared to 1, 994, 363 minutes in the fourth quarter of 2016 showing a biggest increase of 35.7 percent.
According to Potraz, this implies an increase in the number of minutes by foreign subscribers roaming on the local networks, a trend that normally increases during the festive period when the country receives a high number of tourists.
The report attributed a decline on net-on-net traffic to the discontinuation of a number of promotions that offered free net-on-net calls.
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Bongani Ndlovu