Telone eyes million subscribers mark

completes the upgrading of its systems which is under way.
The upgrading exercise is being undertaken under a multi-million dollar deal with Huawei International and Alcatel Lucent.
Speaking at the sidelines of the Managing Director’s Sports Gala held at Chaplin High School in Gweru, TelOne managing director, Mr Hampton Mhlanga said the upgrading was being undertaken in phases and the first phase was expected to be completed at the end of this month.
“We are targeting at raising our subscribers’ base to 1 million from the present 350 000 once the upgrading is complete. Part of the work will also see two core switching centres being put in place connecting the 153 exchanges on the ground.
“Looking on the brighter side, our first phase to be rolled out is the Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL). TelOne Broadband is expected to be completed by the end of December. It is our flagship product and it is ideal for residential and small to medium scale enterprises.
“This is quite a milestone in this ever changing world of new fast paced technologies,” said Mr Mhlanga.
The initial stages involved laying an optic fibre link connecting major cities and towns. It has vastly covered Harare-Mutare route and the southern part link is almost reaching Bulawayo. A $58 million deal with Huawei International is already on the cards to further expand ADSL to the rest of Zimbabwe.
This is the work that will expand the subscribers’ base to one million.
The ADSL is a type of digital subscriber line technology that enables faster data transmission over copper telephone line than a conventional voice band modem can provide.
On the other hand the communication company seeks to undertake a restoration of service exercise to areas affected by vandalism which cost the company millions of dollars.
“The company is still facing a number of challenges, chief among them being the infrastructural vandalism and theft of cables. Some areas have even reached crisis levels. This has strained our financial resources but however, remedial solutions continue to be sought,” added Mr Mhlanga.
He also bemoaned loss of skilled manpower which resulted in poor service and as such the company’s subscribers’ base fell to 350 000 from 450 000.
“I must mention that the year 2008 was the worst year ever in the country’s economic history and indeed that of our own organisation with the most notable being the brain drain.
“No amount of persuasion could help retain staff and this was worsened by the fact that most of our staff were switching over to our competitors who at the time could pay them the much need foreign currency,said Mr Mhlanga.
Meanwhile, TelOne is owed over $250 million in outstanding bills by defaulting subscribers and the organisation has extended an olive branch to enable clearance of outstanding bills.
“We are a public enterprises and not a private, which can disconnect subscribers anytime. As an organisation we have designed a channel to address the issue of outstanding bills which will see the subscriber paying a minimal balance.
“Yes we are owed over $250 million in outstanding bills and we have put measures in place to recover the money. We are asking those with outstanding bills to pay a certain amount and then the rest of the bill will then be spread over an agreed length of time which in short we can call a payment plan,” said Mr Mhlanga.