Telecoms giant Telone says network cables vandalism by thieves has affected its operations as thousands of dollars are lost in repairs monthly.
Addressing guests at the unveiling of the entity’s new retail outlet in Hillside, Harare, and the launch of its United States dollar bundle packages yesterday, TelOne managing director Chipo Mutasa expressed concern over the adverse impact of vandalism on its network.
“The battle is hue, yes we have one or two arrested done but we think that it’s a bigger battle that we are facing. There are sophisticated syndicates on the vandalism side to an extent that every day we have to find new methods and strategies for curbing vandalism.
“All the authorities are working with us, that is the police and other relevant authorities, they are helping us to ensure that we catch the vandals on time.
Mutasa said the perpetrators act out of ignorance, greed and lack of knowledge of the implications of their actions. She said the company has been asked with finding out where the cables are taken to so that they close the syndicate.
“Some of our investigations revealed that when they vandals take the cables, they go to Mozambique, we don’t know what is happening in that country but that’s is one of the regular countries, there is a lot that is happening that we need to deal with,” Mutasa noted.
Mutasa said the copper technology TelOne was using did not have the adequate bandwidth capacity demanded by its growing clientele.
“We are committed to bringing in either optic fibre technology or wireless technology that they call LTE or long-term evolution.
“That is what we are working on. We are not promising to bring it today because we do not have the money yet,” she said.
