The country’s telecommunications sector recorded substantial growth margins in several key performance indicators during third quarter (Q3) 2020 after an abysmal show prior quarter, the latest sectorial report shows.
According to the Postal and Telecomunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (POTRAZ) Sector Performance Report 3rd Quarter- 2020, active internet and data subscriptions grew by 5.6 percent to reach 8,726,904 from 8,267,268.
As a result, the Internet penetration rate increased by 3.2 percent to reach 59.9 percent from 56.7 percent recorded in the previous quarter.
Total mobile voice traffic grew by 18.7 percent to record 1.56 billion minutes in the third quarter of 2020 from 1.31 billion minutes recorded in the previous quarter.
Fixed voice traffic also increased by 12 percent to record 90.6 million minutes in the third quarter of 2020 from 80.9 million minutes recorded in the second quarter of 2020.
“The bulk of fixed voice traffic was generated by corporates lines. The growth in traffic is attributable to the upscaling of business operations and the increased number of workforce back at work following the relaxation of Covid-19 restrictions,” said POTRAZ, director general Gift Machengete.
Mobile internet and data traffic grew by 43 percent to record 14,878TB in the third quarter of 2020 from 10,407TB recorded in the second quarter of 2020. Used International Internet Bandwidth Capacity also increased by 16.8 percent to record 149,665Mbps from 128,173Mbps recorded in the previous quarter.
The major gains come on the back of a difficult second quarter where most performance indicators suffered major declines owing to COVID-19 induced disruptions to business and the social way of life.
Total postal and courier volumes increased by 28.1 percent to record 297,680 items in the third quarter of 2020 from 232,468 items recorded in the second quarter of 2020 but remained unconvincing.
“Despite the growth recorded in the quarter under review, postal and courier volumes are still way below the quarterly average of over 1 million pre-Covid-19. Postal and courier operators still face challenges in channeling items to and from several destinations because of Covid-19 policies in different countries,” said POTRAZ.
However, the sector endured increased operating costs owing to inflation.
Revenue generated by the mobile telephone networks grew by 194.7 percent to record ZWL$ 8.9billion from ZWL$ 3 billion on the other hand, mobile network operating costs grew by 23.6 percent to record ZWL$ 2.5 billion from ZWL$ 2.1 billion recorded in the previous quarter.
Legacy challenges such as foreign currency shortages and a generally high-cost environment continue to affect expansion projects for the sector.
“The credit crunch as well as foreign currency challenges has negatively affected network expansion and maintenance as spare parts, equipment and vendor support fees require foreign currency. The high cost of International Internet Connectivity remains a challenge as Zimbabwe is a landlocked country, accessing bandwidth from undersea cables via Mozambique and South Africa,” said Machengete.
