Telecel Zimbabwe is disputing statistics released by the Posts and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (POTRAZ) that showed a slump in the telco’s subscriber numbers.
Telecommunications regulator, POTRAZ said last month that Telecel’s subscriber numbers had declined by 300 000 during the first quarter of the current year. It was the only mobile operator to show a decline in subscriber numbers, as rival operators Econet and NetOne added more connections.
Telecel, however, is now disputing the figures released by POTRAZ, saying the company has in fact recorded a rise in subscriber numbers.
“The incorrect figures had reflected a loss of more than 300 000 subscribers in the first three months of the year, when in fact the reverse was the case. There had been a gain, not a loss, of more than 300 000 subscribers,” said the company’s managing director, John Swaim.
He said “Telecel had 1. 8 million active subscribers as opposed to the incorrect 1. 5 million reported” by POTRAZ at the end of March.
Econet leads the mobile network market in Zimbabwe with 6.4 million subscribers while the other operator, the government owned NetOne has 1.6 million subscribers.
The POTRAZ statistics show NetOne overtaking Telecel as the second largest mobile operator in Zimbabwe.
“It is now difficult to determine the flow and movement or even trends in terms of mobile phone usage and subscriber numbers as we now have conflicting figures and statistics.
“What is even more interesting is the fact that POTRAZ and Telecel could have used different methodology in coming up with their figures,” said a source with knowledge of telecommunications developments.
Swaim said the “officially accepted GSM definition” for an active subscriber refers to a customer who has made a revenue-generating activity within the last 90 days.
“There is also a reported capacity called Home Location Register, which refers to the total installed capacity including those subscribers who have not been active over 90 days as well as those whose lines are inactive pending registration and the subsequent initial activation,” he added.
POTRAZ officials were not immediately available to comment on the disputed statistics but an official, who declined to be named, said the regulator mostly relies on figures and statistics provided by the operators.
However, when POTRAZ issued the subscriber numbers for the three mobile operators, it explained that it had encountered “difficulties in getting the subscriber figures” from some of the mobile companies.
The statistics released by POTRAZ showed Zimbabwe's teledensity growing to an all-time high 78.8%. The tele-density is an analysis of active sim cards measured against the country's overall population.
Telecel is the only company that has disputed the POTRAZ statistics. Meanwhile, rival operator, Econet, said that it will shortly unveil tele-tunes for its subscribers.
Telecel recently started offering free ‘tele-tunes’ service but the move by Econet to launch a similar offering heralds the dawn of increased cut-throat competition in the telecommunications sector for subscribers.
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