Chronicle Editor
Oliver Kazunga, Senior Business Reporter
THE volume of mobile money transactions has increased significantly by 20,5 percent to 575,4 million in the third quarter ended September 30, 2019 compared to 477,4 million in the prior quarter.
In an abridged telecommunications sector performance report for the period under review, the Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (Potraz) also revealed that the value of mobile money transactions registered phenomenal growth.
“There was significant growth in the volume and value of mobile money transactions in the quarter under review.
“The growth in the value of transactions can be attributed to a number of factors such as the general increase in the cost of goods and services as well as the growth in the number of users and use cases,” said the telecommunications regulator in the report.
In the third quarter, cash-in transactions were valued at $5 million up from $2,4 million while cash-out transactions worth $1,9 million were recorded during the period under review compared to $1,3 million in the prior quarter.
Potraz also indicated that airtime, bill and merchant payments worth $5 million were recorded in the third quarter compared to $2,5 million in the second quarter. Cross network transactions valued $197,152 were recorded in the third quarter up from $123,575 in the second quarter.
The telecommunications regulator noted that mobile money has become an important channel for effecting person-to-business transactions.
“Total mobile network revenue grew by 121 percent to record $828,8 million from $375 million recorded in the previous quarter.
“However, a more than proportionate growth in operating costs was recorded. Operating costs grew by 202,7 percent to record $707,4 million from $233,7 million and bulk was internet bandwidth costs and depreciation,” said Potraz.
During the period under review, active mobile subscriptions recorded a four percent growth to reach 12,9 million from 12,4 million recorded in the second quarter.
Mobile penetration rate increased by 3,4 percent to reach 88,2 percent from 84,8 percent recorded in the previous quarter. All the mobile operators recorded growth in active subscriptions, said Potraz.
During the quarter under review, the regulator also noted that there was an overall growth in national voice traffic vis-à-vis a decline in international voice traffic. Mobile internet and data traffic also grew but by a small margin. International outgoing voice traffic recorded the biggest decline for a consecutive quarter that is 42,7 percent in the second quarter of 2019 and 39,3 percent in the third quarter.
“International voice tariffs have been gradually increasing hence the inevitable substitution of international voice calls with cheaper Over-the-Top services such as WhatsApp, Viber, Skype amongst others.
“National voice service traffic increased by 8 percent in spite of the 113 percent increase in the base tariffs implemented in August as various promotions offering discounted tariffs for national voice continued to run in the quarter under review,” said Potraz. -@okazunga
Online Reporter