Econet Wireless Zimbabwe recorded a significant 20.68% increase in mobile internet and data traffic during the first quarter of 2025, handling over 92.2 billion megabytes (MB), up from 76.4 billion MB in the previous quarter, the latest industry report has shown.
According to the Abridged Sector Performance Report for Q1 2025 from the Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (Potraz), Econet grew its internet and data market share by 2.25 percentage points to 80.89%, while rivals NetOne and Telecel registered declines of 2.16 and 0.09 percentage points, to 18.91% and 0.20% respectively.
“Mobile internet and data traffic increased significantly by 17.31%, from 97.19 Petabytes (PB) recorded in the fourth quarter of 2024 to 114.02 PB in the quarter under review,” the POTRAZ report stated. “The proliferation of smartphones and the popularity of social media platforms continue to drive demand for internet services.”
During the same period, Econet also saw a 4.52% rise in voice traffic, growing from 3.53 billion minutes in Q4 2024 to 3.69 billion minutes to maintain the mobile voice market share at 87.89% in Q1 2025.
NetOne posted a notable 12.26% increase in voice traffic, from 452 million to over 507 million minutes, but remained a distant second overall, while Telecel continued to struggle, registering double-digit declines in both data and voice traffic, including an 11.69% drop in subscribers and an 18.26% fall in data usage.
Econet further solidified its market lead by growing its active mobile subscriber base by 2.17%, from 11.33 million to 11.58 million. This saw its subscriber market share edge up from 72.29% to 72.85%, while NetOne and Telecel lost subscriber market shares by margins of 0.25 and 0.31 percentage points, respectively.
This was after the sector recorded a 1.38% increase in active mobile subscriptions from 15,677,094 recorded in the fourth quarter of 2024 to 15,893,626 in the quarter under review.
“Despite an increase in the number of subscribers, mobile penetration rate declined by 0.87 percentage points from 102.26% to record 101.39%, owing to a corresponding increase in estimated population figures,” read part of the report.
- Mboweni mentors emerging entrepreneurs, calls for integrity in business
- Mboweni mentors emerging entrepreneurs, calls for integrity in business
- Zim tycoons elevate offspring to key roles
- Zim tycoons elevate offspring to key roles
Keep Reading
Although overall capital expenditure by mobile network operators dipped during the quarter, largely due to seasonal factors, Potraz noted a promising 53.33% increase in 5G base station deployments. Econet remained ahead of the pack across all network technologies, including 2G, 3G, LTE, and 5G.
In a major industry shift, data services overtook voice to become the largest contributor to mobile operator revenue, accounting for 50.28% of total income. Econet’s continued investment in faster and more reliable internet infrastructure appears to be yielding strong returns, especially amid rising consumer preference for digital platforms.
Despite broader economic challenges such as increased operational costs and a 4.20% decline in total revenue, the industry regulator remains upbeat about the sector’s prospects.
“The deployment of 5G and the uptake of satellite services like Starlink are positioning Zimbabwe for deeper digital transformation,” Potraz said.
“The sector is on a path of sustained innovation, with robust infrastructure expansion and growing demand for digital services.”
