Powertel unveils US$100m investment action plan

ZESA Holdings’ subsidiary, Powertel, says plans are underway to invest more than US$100 million up to 2025 towards upgrading network services and improving technology uptake.

The drive is aimed at increasing business efficiency and earnings across the country where the entity is servicing both rural and urban clients.

The company yesterday revealed that it has already invested more than US$50 million towards enhancing its technology from high definition (HD) to dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) as part of efforts to improve network speed and connectivity.

In an interview on the sidelines of a customer interface meeting held in Bulawayo last Thursday, Powertel Acting Managing Director, Mr Willard Nyagwande, said investment into new innovations was the way to go in ensuring business sustainability and viability.

“We are looking at investing more than US$100 million in the next three to four years to make sure that we complete the network upgrade and invest in the latest technologies,” he said.

Mr Nyagwande said the company was working on urban and rural datafication to ensure that even the marginalised rural areas have access to connectivity.

“We have been investing a lot of money in our network and we have already completed some of our fibre projects. We are now working on another root which starts from Gweru to Beitbridge passing through Shurugwi, Zvishavane, Tokwe and Chiredzi to ensure all the rural areas and mines in those areas are connected,” he said.

Mr Nyagwande said the company’s vision was to make sure that by 2025 all the schools, clinics, mines, and police camps are electrified and data connected.

“We are also working on launching asset and animal-tracking solutions, cloud systems and local area network. The President is always talking about a digital economy, so Powertel is playing a complementary and mandatory role to ensure that Zimbabwe becomes a digital economy by 2030 and we are collaborating with different partners in the industry to make sure that the dream is achieved,” he said.

In his keynote address, Industry and Commerce Deputy Minister Raj Modi said information and communications technologies (ICTs) were playing a key role in driving the momentum towards the attainment of the aspirations of the National Development Strategy (NDS1) and Vision 2030.

“As enunciated by the President Dr Mnangagwa, Vision 2030 is focused on promoting innovation, entrepreneurship, equitable development and prosperity for all hence Internet and other ICT plays a key role,” he said.

Deputy Minister Modi said it was encouraging to note that Powertel is rolling out power backups at all its network nodes aimed at improving service reliability and a 99,99 percent network uptime.

“As a strategic response to Vision 2030, Zesa as a whole will be rolling out a programme of total electrification and datafication,” he said.

Deputy Minister Modi said Powertel, as the ICT wing of the power utility will be responsible for urban and rural datafication aspects, a robust programme aimed at connecting communities to the Internet, especially rural communities. “I must say the Government is proud to witness the growth of our ICT industry through focused and deliberate efforts by ICT players,” he said.

Deputy Minister Modi said in order to ensure optimal business and economic growth, there is a need to advocate for and increase investment into ICT infrastructure to facilitate the rapid absorption of information and provide timely, efficient and effective customer service. Powertel is the first company to connect through Seacom, which is a submarine cable operator with a network of submarine and terrestrial high-speed fibre-optic cable that serves the East and West coasts of Africa. Seacom’s reach extends to and from Europe, India and Asia.

— @SikhulekelaniM1