Mobile phone subscriptions near 15 million

Mukudzei Chingwere

Herald Reporter

MOBILE phone subscriptions are nearing 15 million while data and internet subscriptions increased in the second quarter of the year, as the country continues to adopt information communication technologies, Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister, Dr Jenfan Muswere, said after yesterday’s Cabinet meeting.

He said Cabinet adopted the postal and telecommunications sector second quarter performance report for 2024, which was presented by ICT, Postal and Courier Services Minister, Tatenda Mavetera.

The quarterly report underlines the significance of creating transparent and responsible systems that align with the country’s national vision and strategic intent of an empowered upper-middle income society.

Dr Muswere said ICTs were developing at a rapid pace worldwide, hence Zimbabwe should be proactive to use the technologies for its growth.

“The quarterly report underlines the significance of creating transparent, responsible systems that align with the country’s national vision and strategic intent,” said Dr Muswere.

“Highlights of the report include that the number of mobile subscriptions stands at 14 834 345, an increase from the 14 739 613 recorded in the first quarter.

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“Fixed telephony maintained a tele-density of 1,90 percent, while there was an increase in data and internet subscriptions. Of particular note is that the amount of data and internet traffic on mobile devices increased by 12,5 percent, indicating that more online activities are relying on mobile data.”

Dr Muswere said the number of mobile base stations increased with the deployment of 272 Long Term Evolution (LTE) infrastructure.

He said Econet added 31 new base stations, while NetOne decommissioned 14 2G base stations and replaced them with 4G/LTE base stations.

The transition of services from being voice-centric to data-centric has driven large investments in high-speed broadband infrastructure.

Cabinet advised that the quarterly reports are published nationally and reports will be presented to the International Telecommunications Union annually.