Harare, (New Ziana) –The mobile telecommunications sector in Zimbabwe posted strong growth in the second quarter of this year, with revenue climbing, costs easing and capital investment reaching record levels, the latest industry performance report shows.
According to the Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (POTRAZ) in its Second Quarter of the Postal and Telecommunications Abridged Sector Performance Report of this year, total revenue for mobile network operators (MNOs) rose 9.24 percent from ZWG 6.15 billion in the first quarter to ZWG 6.71 billion.
At the same time, operating costs dropped 5.47 percent, down from ZWG 3.68 billion to ZWG 3.48 billion, signaling improved efficiency across the industry. Capital expenditure surged 261 percent to ZWG 1.53 billion, up from ZWG 423.81 million, as operators accelerated investments in network expansion.
Data services remained the sector’s biggest earner, contributing 47.97 percent of total revenue in the quarter, with growth attributed to the widespread use of bandwidth-heavy platforms such as Netflix, YouTube and TikTok, which continue to fuel demand for faster and more reliable internet services.
Infrastructure development also gained pace with operators deploying 68 new 5G base stations, bringing the total to 252, alongside 246 LTE stations and 130 3G stations. “The significant increase in deployment of LTE and 5G base stations will go a long way in enhancing connectivity, quality of service and network speeds,” POTRAZ said.
In the Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) market, Liquid Intelligent Technologies maintained its lead with 53.10 percent of subscriptions with Africom following at 23.47 percent, while Dandemutande, TelOne and Telecontract accounted for 17.91 percent, 5.13 percent and 0.39 percent, respectively.
Traditional voice services however continued their decline with total voice traffic by the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) operator falling 9.67 percent from 54.64 million minutes in the first quarter to 49.36 million minutes in the second.
The steepest drops were in traffic between fixed and mobile networks, as well as traffic to Internet Access Providers as international incoming calls declined 6.84 percent, though outgoing international traffic rose 4.42 percent.
“This may be attributed to the continued substitution effect of Over-The-Top communication applications which use the internet to offer cheaper communication options, as well as continued movement from fixed to mobile services,” said POTRAZ.
The results underscore a shifting industry trend where data-driven services are now the backbone of telecom revenues, while traditional voice continues to wane. Analysts say the surge in capital expenditure and rapid deployment of 5G and LTE networks positions operators to meet rising consumer demand and sustain growth in the digital era.
New Ziana
