BY MICHELINA ANDREUCCI
In 2002, only 10% of the world’s population used mobile phones, and by 2005 that percentage had risen to 46%. By the end of 2009, there were a total of nearly 6 billion mobile and fixed-line telephone subscribers worldwide.
This included 1.26 billion fixed-line subscribers and 4.6 billion mobile subscribers Analog cellular networks first appeared in Zimbabwe in 1979.
Cellular network consists of a network of ground-based transmitter/receiver stations with antennas, which are usually located on towers or on buildings, and infrastructure connecting to land-based telephone lines.
The first digital cellular networks appeared in the early 1990s.
As global connections and networks became more sophisticated, so did the phones and technology develop in Zimbabwe.
In Zimbabwe cellular networks were established in the late 1990s. The state-owned NetOne was the first cellular network operator in Zimbabwe based on Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM). The company was launched in Harare, with 500 lines during the World Solar Summit in September 1996.
NetOne was followed by Econet and lastly Telecel was established in 1996; all were using the main Mazowe satellite. All the operators are 100 percent digitalized and most offer 2G, GPRS, EDGE, 3G and 4G LTE services today.
Zimbabwe’s first internet service provider (ISP), Data Control and Systems, was established in 1994.
In 1997, the national Posts and Telecommunication Corporation (PTC) built a national Internet
backbone to sell bandwidth to private ISPs. The same year, cellphones were introduced in Zimbabwe. By 2009, there were 1.423 million internet users in the country. By June 2011 the subscriber base for the three mobile operators in Zimbabwe stood at 8 167 000, of these 5,521,000 for Econet, 1,297,000 for NetOne, and 1,349,000 for Telecel.
Zimbabwe has had its own share of intriguing stories that highlight the unfathomable power to
monopolise the communication system in the country.
In 1997 following bids by five aspiring telecom companies which included Econet, Telecel Zimbabwe a subsidiary of Telecel International, was the first to be awarded an operating license. However, it was met with opposition and summarily rescinded following a court ruling when Econet raised a point of irregularity.
Since then, Telecel experienced a fair share of controversy having its license cancelled in 1997, 2007, and again in 2013. A shareholding issue rose in 2007, followed by a scandal when Jane Mutasa was alleged of embezzlement. In 2013 Econet raised the issue of licensing again when it disrupted services citing the lack of legal obligation to connect with the company. However, this was soon regularized and operations re-started.
In 2015, Telecel faced new threats of closure due to its failure to meet regulations and licensing requirements.
Due to the indigenization requirements shareholding has since changed. Kestrel corporation and Selporn Investments, and ZARnet currently own the company. ZARnet owns 60% of the company’s shareholding – split between the Zimbabwe Miners Federation, Affirmative Action Group, War Veterans Association, and the Zimbabwe Farmers Union.
Currently Telecel Zimbabwe offers a money transfer platform called Telecash, a mobile broadband service in the form of 2G, 2.5G EDGe, and 3G, and provisions voice services.
Strive Masiyiwa
Strive Masiyiwa on the other hand, after working briefly as a telecoms engineer for the state-owned telephone company set up his own company known as Econet Wireless. The Zimbabwean government however refused to grant him a license to operate his business. Consequently, Masiyiwa appealed to the Constitutional Court of Zimbabwe on the basis that the refusal constituted a violation of “freedom of expression” Following a five-year legal battle which almost took him to the brink of bankruptcy, the Zimbabwean court ruled in his favour
The ruling, led to the removal of the state monopoly in telecommunications, and is regarded as one of the key milestones in opening the African telecommunications sector to private capital. The company’s first cellphone subscriber was connected to the new network in 1998.
In July 1998, Masiyiwa listed Econet Wireless Zimbabwe on the local stock exchange as “a gesture of thanks” to reward the thousands of ordinary people who supported him during his lengthy legal battles. Today, Econet Wireless Zimbabwe has become a major business that dominates the Zimbabwe economy. It is currently the second-largest company in Zimbabwe by market capitalisation.
Just as Alexander Bell was quick to appreciate the potential of the telephone one hundred years earlier, the emergence of mobile cellular telephony led Zimbabwean entrepreneur, Strive Masiyiwa, who foresaw the potential to broaden his telecommunication services.
In 2000, Masiyiwa founded The Econet Wireless Group in South Africa. Other key businesses that he established with partners included Econet Wireless International, Econet Global, Mascom Wireless Botswana, Econet Wireless Nigeria (now Airtel Nigeria), Econet Satellite Services, Lesotho Telecom, Econet Wireless Burundi, Rwanda Telecom, Econet Wireless South Africa, Solarway and Transaction Processing Systems (TPS).
The company he created is known to have operations and investments across Africa plus the United Kingdom, Europe, US, Latin America, and New Zealand, United Arab Emirates, and China. After being delayed an operating license by the Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe (BAZ), Strive Masiyiwa founded Kwesé (Sports) TV, a subsidiary of Econet Global, in 2017 in Zimbabwe.
Michelina Andreucci is a Zimbabwean-Italian researcher and a published author in her field. For Comments E-mail: linamanucci@gmail.com
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