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Mobile
internet revolution takes Zimbabwe by storm
The Zimbabwean
October 27, 2010
View this article
on The Zimbabwean website
Zimbabwe entered a new digital era last week Friday when the largest
mobile phone network Econet Wireless launched its mobile broadband
package available to their estimated 4.5 million subscribers. Econet
CEO Douglas Mboweni said this was the most ambitious project they
had undertaken since 1998 when the company was launched adding the
broadband would be pivotal in reconstructing the country's
economy. Reporting from Harare our correspondent Simon Muchemwa
said three broadband packages were being offered; "On the
Go" for customers on the move using internet capable handsets
and laptops, the "@Home" package for home users surfing
for leisure, school and light business and "@Work" for
business users.
Muchemwa said
customers were asked to send a blank text message to 145 and a confirmation
would then be sent by Econet confirming if the line has been activated.
Subscribers can then buy internet 'bundles' ranging
from 1 to 1000 megabytes to allow them to connect to the internet.
Each megabyte costs 50 US cents although many customers were given
a free promotional 100 megabytes.
The project
has cost Econet close to US$100 million and covers many of the major
cities. Previous attempts at launching the service in September
last year resulted in an over-subscription and Econet had to suspend
offering the service to new customers until the necessary upgrade
had been completed.
While the economic
advantages are obvious, Muchemwa reports that activists are excited
at the prospect of the technology helping to discourage rights abuses.
'Anyone with a camera or video phone can capture incidents
of political violence and within minutes the whole world will be
watching,' he said.
Cost however
will remain the main stumbling block for the service to take root
effectively. At 50 US cents per megabyte, many people will struggle
to afford the luxury of sending and receiving large files. Early
signs are promising though with Muchemwa saying in the first day
of the launch hundreds of people in Harare could be seen glued to
their phones and laptops surfing the internet.
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