Chronicle Editor
Oliver Kazunga, Senior Business Reporter
STATE-OWNED telecommunications firm, NetOne, has increased the number of agents to more than 24 000 and extended its zero-tariff transaction charges to March next year.
The company said it was on an aggressive trajectory and next year promises to be an exciting year as mobile players jostle for subscribers and market share.
“NetOne continues to give value to Zimbabweans through its mobile financial arm, One Money by extending the zero-tariff transaction charges to March 2020.
“The bold move by NetOne rides on the Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe’s abridged third quarter report for 2019, that saw One Money growing by 27 percent from 335 132 active mobile subscriptions to 428 529,” it said.
The gain represented the overall growth in active mobile subscriptions and was solely attributed to One Money.
As a network, NetOne’s active mobile subscriptions grew by 10,6 percent from 2,8 million to three million signifying a total gain of 1,4 percent of the market share in Zimbabwe.
The adoption of mobile money has been continuously improving as a convenient alternative to making payments given the cash shortages the country is facing.
One Money boasts of a host of payment solutions, short-term loans (Tsaona), agent lines, merchant codes, cardless merchant purchases, biller codes and availability on the ZimSwitch platform (Zip-It), enhanced by a ZimSwitch enabled debit card.
NetOne chief executive officer Mr Lazarus Muchenje said his organisations spent the year attending to strategies aimed at enhancing service delivery.
“As NetOne, we have spent the year 2019 focusing on enhanced service provision through a stable quality network and a robust distribution channel, which includes 36 NetOne shops, 1 000 franchise shops, 11 000 merchants and more than 24 000 agents who are equipped to register and activate all NetOne lines and OneMoney accounts,” he said.
Mr Muchenje said improved accessibility of his firm’s products and services has resulted in a host of benefits for Zimbabweans while promoting employment creation.
“To help usher in the year 2020, NetOne has extended the zero-tariff promotion on One Money to March to cushion the transacting public paying school fees, send or receive money and other money transactions.
“We will continue with our mission to transform and develop lives through communication solutions as we complement Government efforts towards the Vision for an upper middle income economy by 2030,” he said.-@okazunga
Online Reporter