NetOne to offer mobile money transfers (Zimbabwe)

On 03.16.11, In Mobile, By Editor

­NetOne has signed a deal with Gemalto to offer a mobile money service. Expanding the possibilities of Mobile Money Transfer, it also enables NetOne’s customers to have their salaries paid directly onto their phones.

According to Philippe Vallee, Executive Vice President, Gemalto, NetOne, with its excellent network coverage and evenly spread agent distribution structure, will bring banking services to even the most remote areas in Zimbabwe. They look forward to supporting NetOne in their efforts to revolutionize Zimbabweans’ everyday lives in this and other future innovative projects.

NetOne also intends to work with the Government of Zimbabwe and Pension Fund schemes to allow the OneWallet to be used for pension payments and thus remove the need for traveling long distances for the purpose of collecting pension payments.

 

Filed under:Mobile  Tagged with: • • • • • • • • •
 
0 Comments
Leave A Response

MTN eyes 49% NetOne stake (South Africa, Zimbabwe)

On 03.14.11, In Mobile, By Editor

State-owned mobile operator NetOne’s MD Reward Kangai has revealed that the company is in talks with South Africa’s MTN and other African mobile firms about selling a 49% stake.

NetOne is the smallest mobile operator by subscriber numbers in Zimbabwe, lagging behind Econet Wireless and Telecel, a local unit of Egypt’s Orascom Telecom.

Reward Kangai valued NetOne at between $500 million and $800 million. He did not disclose the other African operators. The company expects an agreement during the second quarter of the year. It is expected that NetOne’s subscriber base will increase to 2.5 million this year from 1.6 million in 2010.

He added that the company was hindered by the country’s telecommunications laws from selling more than 49% of its shares to a strategic investor.

Zimbabwe has a low mobile penetration rate, which makes it attractive to large mobile operators seeking to expand their footprint on the African continent.

He also stated that NetOne’s turnover would double to $200 million in 2011 boosted by an increase in subscribers and a recovering economy. It (low mobile penetration) presents an opportunity for the company to grow, which also presents business opportunity for the strategic partner.

 

Filed under:Mobile  Tagged with: • • • • • • • • •
 
0 Comments
Leave A Response

NetOne installs more than 100 Additional Base Stations (Zimbabwe)

On 11.19.10, In Mobile, By Editor

NetOne, Zimbabwean mobile network, has hired over 100 additional base stations over the past few months to expand its coverage. A total of 106 base stations were hired, which include 40 in Harare, 13 in Bulawayo, six in Matebeleland North, two in Matebeleland South and 14 in the Midlands province.

According to NetOne managing director Mr Reward Kangai, the company is continuously expanding the network to give their customers constant connectivity. In the year 2010 the company had added more than 106 base stations across the country to expand their already widest coverage.

He added that the network has recently completed the replacement of its old legacy Harare Mobile Switching Centre (MSC) with an Internet Protocol (IP) based Mobile Soft Switching Centre (MSSC) to bolster the network quality, increase subscriber base and also prepare for the launch of new services that are IP driven. They were already releasing millions of SIM cards in the regions serviced by the Harare based switch.

As per Mr Kangai, the company has two Switching Centres one in Harare and another one in Bulawayo and these share connectivity for the whole country. The network upgrade was meant to eliminate service outages. The company has upgraded their system to enhance network performance. They have since completed the upgrades on the Bulawayo based MSC, which is now able to carry much more calls and they can release more lines.

Filed under:Mobile  Tagged with: • • • • • • • • • • •
 
0 Comments
Leave A Response

MTN, NetOne deal under clouds (Africa)

On 03.31.10, In Mobile, By Editor

www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Danger seems to be looming on the planned acquisition of a 49% stake in Zimbabwean cellco NetOne by South African telco MTN. The deal seems to be collapsing after it has been revealed that some members of the government are opposed to its privatization. Growing discomfort over the sale has also been witnessed by the government.

According to Finance Minister Tendai Biti, the government believes that NetOne’s poor performance is a management issue the mobile network business was ‘like printing money,’ and that there was no reason for NetOne to be in its current state when rival cellco Econet Wireless Zimbabwe was ‘making USD65 million every month.

Although, NetOne was the first telecom operator to be launched in the country it is still the smallest wireless network operator by subscribers. At the end of 2009 the company claimed approximately 10% of the country’s wireless subscriber market.

Filed under:Mobile  Tagged with: • • • • •
 
0 Comments
Leave A Response

Zimbabwean telco NetOne aims 1.5m subscribers by mid 2010

On 03.17.10, In Mobile, By Editor

www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Expansion of network capacity has been carried out by Zimbabwean state-owned mobile operator NetOne to five million subscribers. The company also hopes to more than triple its active customer base to over 1.5 million by end-May 2010.

A subscriber capacity of around 1.2 million and half a million subscribers was there with NetOne before the expansion work commenced. According to managing director Reward Kangai, most of the base stations being installed in this expansion drive are solar energy-powered and this reduces service disruptions arising from erratic power supplies besides switching capacity has also been greatly increased to accommodate five million subscribers.

The aim of the up gradation of pre-paid platform was also to accommodate three million subscribers from a previous limit of one million.

South African giant MTN Group and NetOne, the country’s smallest cellco by users are in negotiation with each other over a possible strategic partnership. The result can be the acquiring of minority stake in the Zimbabwean operator by MTN besides the injection of up to USD600 million in fresh capitals.

Filed under:Mobile  Tagged with: • • • •
 
0 Comments
Leave A Response

Telecel intends to double its subscriber base by Oct-end, roll-out 3G (Zimbabwe)

On 09.07.09, In Mobile, By Editor

www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Telecel Zimbabwe, third largest operator in terms of subscribers, is reportedly planning to roughly double its base to 700,000 subscribers by the end of October 2009, and said it also intends to roll-out 3G services. Acting chairwoman Jane Mutasa said that Telecel Zimbabwe had 355,000 subscribers at end-July. According to a report, NetOne had less than 400,000 subscribers, where as the market leader Econet Wireless Zimbabwe was ahead with more than  1.25 million SIMs in operation.

Filed under:Mobile  Tagged with: • • • • • • •
 
0 Comments
Leave A Response

Four prestigious awards for BSNL

On 10.11.06, In Mobile, By Editor

DAVANAGERE: Bharath Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) has received Top Telecom Service Provider Award, Awaz Consumer Award-2006, Best Brand in Land Line Service and PTC India award and Telecom Asia Award for its outstanding services, said General Manager of Telecom R Sathiyanarayanan.Speaking to reporters here on Tuesday, he said to commemorate the sixth anniversary of BSNL it had planned to provide some additional facilities and services to the people of Davanagere and Chitradurga districts.

All most all villages are reached with land line and efforts will be made to reach them through GSM mobile and CDMA WLL services. To give fixed WLL lines presently we had 10 base stations in all taluk headquarters and 13 more CDMA stations with capacity of 10000 lines be added, he said.

To give good service to mobile customers, 56 towers are erected in both Davanagere and Chitradurga districts. 44 new towers will be erected during this year in rural areas and the work will be started by October end, he hoped.

To improve capacity in urban areas 16 more BTS will be added to the present 44, he added.

Netone Internet Services introduced in all exchanges and it has 880 Internet connections and all fixed line subscriber also can avail this facility, he said.

At present Broad Band service is available at Davanagere, Harihar and Chitradurga and this will be extended to all taluks by March 2007. And 2,500 additional lines will laid in next six months, he stated.

Under Sulabh plan any phone user in rural areas can pay Rs 825 per year as rent and it has been reduced to Rs 75 per month and in urban areas it is Rs 120 per month.

With five special package for land line users the customers can get a discount from 10 to 35 percent in their bills, GM said.

Source- http://www.newindpress.com

Filed under:Mobile  Tagged with: •
 
0 Comments
Leave A Response
Go To Top »