Econet Wireless resumes sale of Buddie lines (Kenya)

www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Econet Wireless, the Kenyan mobile operator, will resume its sales of prepaid lines as the operator’s subscriber base crosses the 1 million mark. The sale of the Buddie lines were suspended a few years ago driven by chronic foreign currency shortage that had slowed the company’s efforts to grow its subscriber base.
Econet, whose subscriber base at present stands at 960,000, plans to vend 50 000 line-plus-airtime bundles at USd25, in an exciting value package that comprises a USd5 SIM card, USd10 worth of talk-time and USd10 worth of text messages.
The lines will only be sold through Econet shops across the country to ensure they are sold at a consistent price, Rangarirai Mberi, Econet’s Corporate Communications Manager said in a statement.
He said the operator was confident that there would be no hoarding of lines, as the company would continue releasing more lines as it expands network capacity.
Mberi said Econet has completed a major upgrade of its network in the Bulawayo region and has installed a 600 000 subscriber switch, as well as new high capacity base stations throughout the country’s second largest city.
Bulawayo will be included in the new USD 95 million expansion plan, recently approved by shareholders. By December, Econet would have added more capacity to Bulawayo, to take it well over one million customers. The equipment has already been ordered, and is under manufacture,” Mberi said.