Zimbabwe's largest city, Harare carries half of the 9.2 million subscribers Econet has on its network, which is to be expanded after the Strive Masiyiwa founded telco giant picked Ericsson to provide upgrade equipment and service platforms.
The upgrade will enable Econet to introduce newer product and service platforms such as bundled billing and other individualised offerings, experts have said.
Most telecommunications companies in Africa are increasingly seeking to tap into value added and overlay services to boost their revenue streams beyond the traditional voice category.
The partnership between Ericsson and Econet "will see the companies working together to simplify and upgrade the existing 2G/3G/4G/LTE networks, future proofing it for the rapid mobile expansion in the country," both firms have publicly affirmed.
Bernard Fernandes, the group chief technical officer for Econet said the upgrade of the company's network will enable it to "launch new products and quality services".
The agreement includes a complete multi-access Evolved Packet Core with Evolved Packet Gateway as well as a Mobile Switching Center and Media Gateway. The upgrade will additionally enhance Econet's charging functions and increased personalization capabilities.
"In the Harare area, which currently carries more than half of all traffic on the network, the project will also upgrade the radio access network (RAN) to include Ericsson's multi-standard RBS 6000 family of base stations for macro and small cell networks."
Pieter Goosen, the Zimbabwe country manager for Ericsson, said his company's platforms will avail to Econet "the most advanced core network" and also provide it with enhanced "capacity to manage and scale" its network.
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