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ECONET is Zimbabwe's biggest mobile network with more than 8.8 million subscribers out of the country’s population of about 13 million. It has the widest coverage in the country and has created roads even in mountains just to give a service to Zimbabweans.
In terms of banking the company now has the biggest number of account holders through its innovative EcoCash product. By March 2014 the company’s banking service had more than 3.5 million account holders against less than a million for the country’s entire brick and mortar banks.
In a country that is starved of investments, Econet has invested $1.2bn in infrastructure to date, a fit that has not been achieved by any other company local or foreign. On the stock market, Econet is the biggest by market capitalisation and its latest revenue of $752.7m might as well be the highest from any Zimbabwean company. The company is one of the country’s biggest tax contributors and has received numerous awards from the country’s revenue authorities, Zimra.
We feel unwanted
With such a record of success, one would expect the company to get some appreciation from all stakeholders in Zimbabwe. After all, its founder Strive Masiyiwa was the first one to introduce mobile phones in the country.
This, however, seem not to be the case. This month its CEO, Douglas Mboweni expressed his anger with the treatment his company was getting at the hands of authorities.
If I may add, a lot of people hate Econet with a passion – more of that later.
Mboweni told a Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Information, Communication Technology, Postal and Courier Services that Econet has been at the receiving end of unfair treatment from authorities and “feels unwanted” in certain spaces.
He said a lot of effort was spent on the “pull him down” syndrome aimed at Econet when, “ideally”, the energy should have been expended on facilitating its growth. The Econet boss cited issues such as when Econet was made to pay $137m towards renewal of its licence, while its oldest rival, NetOne’s, licence will only lapse after 21 years of uninterrupted operation.
Running battles with authorities
Econet also “feels unwanted” by its regulator Postal and Telecommunication Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (Potraz) who often force the company to share infrastructure with other players whom it said only want to ride on other players’ investments. Econet has had a lot of running battles with Potraz including the 2013 incident when it (Econet) was ordered to revert to 25 cents per minute tariff.
Reacting to the directive, Econet complained that while the regulator is there to create a level playing field, they had not made any moves to stop other operators in this price war from dropping tariffs. In response Potraz said Econet had jumped the gun with the latest 10 cents per minute tariffs and this was the reason they had been asked to revert to old pricing with immediate effect.
Forcing the hand
Econet is also notorious for switching off its rivals for their failure to pay interconnection fees. On more than two occasions in 2012, Econet Wireless switched off NetOne in a bid to force them to settle a $19m debt, but the two firms later reportedly agreed on reconnection through a provisional truce.
Econet accused its rival of intending to continuously enjoy the benefits of its services without paying for them. On the other hand, NetOne accused its competitor of resorting to “self-help actions” without seeking recourse from authorities on a proper way forward.
In 2013 Econet barred Telecel Zimbabwe (Telecel) from its network because the latter was yet to renew its operating licence. Econet argued that it had no moral obligation to interconnect with an unlicensed operator.
Persecution from birth
This is, however, not the first time that Econet has been treated like a step child, especially by Zimbabwean authorities. Right from its inception its founder had to go through a lot of persecution including kidnapping and a planned attempt on his life.
In his Facebook postings detailing how he started the company, Masiyiwa narrated how his former employers, the then Post and Telecommunications Commission (PTC) said mobile telephony was a passing fad which would never succeed. When he tried to go it alone PTC read him the "riot act"; reminding him that they had a monopoly over everything telecoms. They threatened him with prosecution, “if he so much as tried”!
He had to go to the High Court, through to the Supreme Court and the Constitutional Court but it was in vain as the courts had already been infiltrated by people who were working against his “mobile ideas”. A new law was even crafted just to stop him.
At one time he was given an ultimatum: "drop your interest in telecoms or we will shut down all your other businesses!"
Meanwhile the PTC announced that they would launch a cellphone network, now known as NetOne. The then minister of telecoms went to the extent of directing that Masiyiwa be arrested for illegal possession of telecommunications equipment. It took the indirect and direct interventions of the late nationalists Edison Zvobgo and former Vice President Joshua Nkomo for him to finally get the licence through the Constitutional Courts.
A life of litigations
Since the days of inception, where court battles gave it a life, Econet has been to the courts countless times to fight for its cause. Its tiff with NetOne in 2012 had to go to the courts. It took Econet court battles to settle its case with Namibia-based Trustco Mobile Private Limited (Trustco). In 2011 it took Alpha Media Holdings to court in an effort to stop the media house from publishing stories that it deemed defamatory.
Not a saint
Econet is however not a saint, just like all of us it has its follies. Econet is often accused by many a subscriber for charging exorbitant tariffs. It is often accused by many for providing poor services such as dropped calls etc. Its Facebook page is laden with frustrated people complaining about its poor services and a whole lot of other issues.
It is common to find complains like this one, “Your Network has been a problem as from 18:00 up to 22:30 every day for the past 3 months. During this time, l used your competitors' networks to communicate with friends. If you don't solve this problem quickly we will abandon your Network forever and use other networks.”
Every time they post something on this Facebook page it is met with a barrage of complaints, and you wonder why they still keep it.
This leaves the question, is Econet an “unwanted child” or just a spoiled brat who wants to have things its own way all the time?
- Fin24
*Malcom Sharara is Fin24’s correspondent in Zimbabwe. Views expressed are his own.
In terms of banking the company now has the biggest number of account holders through its innovative EcoCash product. By March 2014 the company’s banking service had more than 3.5 million account holders against less than a million for the country’s entire brick and mortar banks.
In a country that is starved of investments, Econet has invested $1.2bn in infrastructure to date, a fit that has not been achieved by any other company local or foreign. On the stock market, Econet is the biggest by market capitalisation and its latest revenue of $752.7m might as well be the highest from any Zimbabwean company. The company is one of the country’s biggest tax contributors and has received numerous awards from the country’s revenue authorities, Zimra.
We feel unwanted
With such a record of success, one would expect the company to get some appreciation from all stakeholders in Zimbabwe. After all, its founder Strive Masiyiwa was the first one to introduce mobile phones in the country.
This, however, seem not to be the case. This month its CEO, Douglas Mboweni expressed his anger with the treatment his company was getting at the hands of authorities.
If I may add, a lot of people hate Econet with a passion – more of that later.
Mboweni told a Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Information, Communication Technology, Postal and Courier Services that Econet has been at the receiving end of unfair treatment from authorities and “feels unwanted” in certain spaces.
He said a lot of effort was spent on the “pull him down” syndrome aimed at Econet when, “ideally”, the energy should have been expended on facilitating its growth. The Econet boss cited issues such as when Econet was made to pay $137m towards renewal of its licence, while its oldest rival, NetOne’s, licence will only lapse after 21 years of uninterrupted operation.
Running battles with authorities
Econet also “feels unwanted” by its regulator Postal and Telecommunication Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (Potraz) who often force the company to share infrastructure with other players whom it said only want to ride on other players’ investments. Econet has had a lot of running battles with Potraz including the 2013 incident when it (Econet) was ordered to revert to 25 cents per minute tariff.
Reacting to the directive, Econet complained that while the regulator is there to create a level playing field, they had not made any moves to stop other operators in this price war from dropping tariffs. In response Potraz said Econet had jumped the gun with the latest 10 cents per minute tariffs and this was the reason they had been asked to revert to old pricing with immediate effect.
Forcing the hand
Econet is also notorious for switching off its rivals for their failure to pay interconnection fees. On more than two occasions in 2012, Econet Wireless switched off NetOne in a bid to force them to settle a $19m debt, but the two firms later reportedly agreed on reconnection through a provisional truce.
Econet accused its rival of intending to continuously enjoy the benefits of its services without paying for them. On the other hand, NetOne accused its competitor of resorting to “self-help actions” without seeking recourse from authorities on a proper way forward.
In 2013 Econet barred Telecel Zimbabwe (Telecel) from its network because the latter was yet to renew its operating licence. Econet argued that it had no moral obligation to interconnect with an unlicensed operator.
Persecution from birth
This is, however, not the first time that Econet has been treated like a step child, especially by Zimbabwean authorities. Right from its inception its founder had to go through a lot of persecution including kidnapping and a planned attempt on his life.
In his Facebook postings detailing how he started the company, Masiyiwa narrated how his former employers, the then Post and Telecommunications Commission (PTC) said mobile telephony was a passing fad which would never succeed. When he tried to go it alone PTC read him the "riot act"; reminding him that they had a monopoly over everything telecoms. They threatened him with prosecution, “if he so much as tried”!
He had to go to the High Court, through to the Supreme Court and the Constitutional Court but it was in vain as the courts had already been infiltrated by people who were working against his “mobile ideas”. A new law was even crafted just to stop him.
At one time he was given an ultimatum: "drop your interest in telecoms or we will shut down all your other businesses!"
Meanwhile the PTC announced that they would launch a cellphone network, now known as NetOne. The then minister of telecoms went to the extent of directing that Masiyiwa be arrested for illegal possession of telecommunications equipment. It took the indirect and direct interventions of the late nationalists Edison Zvobgo and former Vice President Joshua Nkomo for him to finally get the licence through the Constitutional Courts.
A life of litigations
Since the days of inception, where court battles gave it a life, Econet has been to the courts countless times to fight for its cause. Its tiff with NetOne in 2012 had to go to the courts. It took Econet court battles to settle its case with Namibia-based Trustco Mobile Private Limited (Trustco). In 2011 it took Alpha Media Holdings to court in an effort to stop the media house from publishing stories that it deemed defamatory.
Not a saint
Econet is however not a saint, just like all of us it has its follies. Econet is often accused by many a subscriber for charging exorbitant tariffs. It is often accused by many for providing poor services such as dropped calls etc. Its Facebook page is laden with frustrated people complaining about its poor services and a whole lot of other issues.
It is common to find complains like this one, “Your Network has been a problem as from 18:00 up to 22:30 every day for the past 3 months. During this time, l used your competitors' networks to communicate with friends. If you don't solve this problem quickly we will abandon your Network forever and use other networks.”
Every time they post something on this Facebook page it is met with a barrage of complaints, and you wonder why they still keep it.
This leaves the question, is Econet an “unwanted child” or just a spoiled brat who wants to have things its own way all the time?
- Fin24
*Malcom Sharara is Fin24’s correspondent in Zimbabwe. Views expressed are his own.
