by MARCUS MUSHONGA
HARARE – ECONET Wireless Zimbabwe reports it has extended 5G coverage by another 100 sites across the country over the past three months.
This drive to increase coverage and improve the mobile operator’s network’s capacity also saw the deployment of ten lightweight and cost-effective base stations targeting underserved and rural communities.
Econet disclosed the rollout as it released its results on Thursday for the first quarter ended May 31, 2005.
Presenting the results on behalf of the board, Tatenda Ngowe, Group Company Secretary, disclosed the operator’s strategy was to prioritise artificial intelligence (AI), following the network upgrades.
“Artificial Intelligence based applications which ride on the upgraded network are becoming core to our processes,” she stated.
“This provides a platform for us to obtain an in-depth understanding of our customer needs including usage patterns that allow us to offer hyper-personalized services,” Ngowe said.
During the period, the mobile network operator (MNO) segment saw data traffic more than doubling and voice volumes increasing by 44 percent.
In the fintech sector, at EcoCash (now TN CyberTech Investments Holdings), compared to the same period last year, customer activity increased by 22 percent and transaction volumes increased by 27 percent.
This is on the back of a 110-percent increase in wallet funding.
The board declared and paid an interim dividend of US$0,63 per share for the quarter.
Econet is a dominant player in Zimbabwe’s mobile sector, with a market share of around 70 percent.
Other cell phone operators include state-owned NetOne, and Telecel Zimbabwe respectively.
– CAJ News
