Bloomberg) -- Econet Wireless Zimbabwe Ltd., Zimbabwe’s biggest mobile phone operator, will spend a further $30 million expanding its third-generation network, the company said today.
Demand for 3G services has “completely surpassed all projections,” Douglas Mboweni, Econet Zimbabwe’s chief executive officer, said on the company’s Web site.
Third-generation technology will be rolled out to all parts of Zimbabwe by December, Mboweni said. The expansion was authorized by parent company Econet Wireless Holdings Ltd., the statement added.
Econet Zimbabwe launched 3G services in the capital, Harare, last month. The company said Aug. 3 that it would spend $94 million expanding its network.
Econet competes with state-owned NetOne and Orascom Telecom Holdings SAE-owned Telecel in Zimbabwe. It has 52 percent of the Zimbabwean market, according to the company’s Web site.
The operator has mobile networks in several African nations and in New Zealand, and a satellite business in Europe.
To contact the reporter on this story: Brian Latham in Durban at blatham@bloomberg.net.
