Tele-density up 7,2pc

Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe show.
The development is, however, slightly below the target by the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology to achieve 10 percent growth rate in tele-density on an annual basis to 2015.
A country’s tele-density measures the number of active mobile phone SIM cards and landlines as a percentage of the country’s total popula-tion.
Official statistics show that Econet Wireless, the largest mobile operator by network coverage and number of subscribers, now has 5 686 000 subscribers, up from 5,4 million in September.
Telecel added on the largest number of subscribers since September (575 000) to close the year at 1 875 000 subscribers.
State-owned operator NetOne comes in next, having added only 156 000 subscribers in the same period. With 1 456 000 subscribers NetOne is now the smallest mobile operator in the country.
Zimbabwe’s fixed telecommunications provider, TelOne, currently has 337 881 subscribers, and the numbers indicate that the operator has lost about 50 000 subscribers in the past two years.
The growth in tele-density was augmented by development of communication infrastructure, price reductions in SIM cards, phones and information and communication technologies as well as a favourable policy environment.
It was, however, less than anticipated perhaps as a result of the dip that it took earlier in 2011 when Potraz requested the mobile telecommunications providers to carry out mandatory SIM card registration.
This exercise resulted in tele-density falling sharply to 53,5 percent, which however improved later in the year.
Local players in the ICT sector (who almost exclusively dominate the industry) contend that demand for communication technologies continues to increase as service providers are offering new and improved services.
Measuring the country’s level of ICT adoption by tele-density rate is however limited, especially in terms of trying to get a sense of the level of Internet connectivity, which is critical in the development of an “information society”.
Experts have, however, forecast greater IT start-up activity this year in view of the opportunities a 72 percent mobile penetration and the growing opening up of the Internet to more people present both locally and regionally.