Back to Index

Econet clarifies traffic operations
MISA-Zimbabwe
October 24, 2006

Privately-owned telecommunications giant, Econet Wireless, has assured its customers that it does not send its outgoing international traffic through the government-owned Tel*One operator as it is only licensed to carry international flows originating and terminating on its own network.

In a statement issued on 24 October 2006 clarifying the operation and management of international getaways, Econet said international traffic was being routed into and out of the country legally through licensed telecommunications operators as well as illegally through illegal operators.

Econet, Tel*One, Net*One and Telecell are the licensed telecommunications operators allowed by law to operate international getaways. The telecommunications company, however, said some international incoming traffic is being refiled into licensed operators through grey routes such as Internet Service Providers (ISPs) that were actually customers of Tel*One.

The ISPs in question are clandestinely terminating refiled international traffic into local mobile networks through Tel*One which "unwittingly" declares this traffic as national calls. Econet said these ISP are paid in hard currency, but pay Tel*One in local currency as the calls are classified as national calls.

"Econet and Tel*One have been co-operating in the past in identifying the culprits and will continue to urge the regulator to take appropriate punitive action."

Telecommunications operators are required to declare traffic statistics and revenues to monetary authorities with copies being submitted to the Post and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (POTRAZ).

In addition to the existing systems, Econet has also recommended that all operators install sophisticated network traffic monitoring systems for traffic management to monitor fraud.

"This system, which Econet has since installed, can monitor the flow of incoming and outgoing traffic," reads the statement.

Visit the MISA-Zimbabwe fact sheet

Please credit www.kubatana.net if you make use of material from this website. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License unless stated otherwise.

TOP