Harare, (New Ziana) -The mobile telecommunications sector registered steady growth in the fourth quarter of 2025, driven largely by increased data consumption, rising voice traffic, and continued infrastructure expansion.
Latest figures that the Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (POTRAZ) released show that active mobile subscriptions rose by 2.11 percent to 16.78 million, up from 16.43 million recorded in the third quarter, pushing mobile penetration beyond the 100 percent mark to 107.04 percent, reflecting widespread access to mobile services across the country.
In its 2025 fourth quarter postal and telecommunications abridged sector performance report, POTRAZ said market leader Econet continued to strengthen its dominance, growing its subscriber base by 2.56 percent to over 12.37 million users while NetOne also recording modest growth of 0.95 percent, and Telecel experienced a slight decline of 0.58 percent in subscriptions.
Econet’s market share increased by 0.33 percentage points, while NetOne and Telecel both ceded ground.
Voice traffic recorded one of the strongest performances during the quarter, rising sharply by 9.04 percent to 5.07 billion minutes.
Econet drove much of the growth with an 11.09 percent increase in traffic, while NetOne and Telecel posted declines. The growth in voice usage has largely been attributed to competitive voice bundles that encourage both on-net and off-net calling.
“The robust increase in total mobile traffic is primarily driven by significant growths in on-net and interconnect traffic which went up by 9.68 percent and 6.49 percent respectively. These traffic segments continue to be the main contributors to national traffic performance.
A significant increase in inbound roaming as opposed to declines in both incoming and outgoing international traffics meant that more foreign visitors entered the county during the holidays with these using their simcards on local networks,” said POTRAZ.
On-net calls remained the biggest contributor to total traffic, rising by 9.68 percent, while interconnection traffic grew by 6.49 percent. Increased inbound roaming traffic also pointed to higher numbers of foreign visitors using local networks during the holiday period.
In contrast, POTRAZ said SMS usage continued its downward trend, declining by 3.49 percent to 2.77 billion messages with the drop attributed mainly to reduced on-net messaging, although international incoming SMS traffic rose by 12.21 percent.
Mobile internet traffic surged by 11.27 percent to 160.33 petabytes, underlining a rapid shift towards data-intensive services. Econet maintained the largest share of data traffic, although NetOne recorded the fastest growth at 18.5 percent. Telecel, meanwhile, saw a significant drop of over 20 percent.
Popular platforms such as WhatsApp, YouTube and Facebook accounted for a substantial portion of data consumption, while high-bandwidth applications like TikTok, Instagram and Netflix drove usage under the “other” category, which made up more than 60 percent of total data traffic.
Financially, mobile network operators recorded a 6.33 percent increase in revenue to ZWG 7.74 billion. However, operating costs rose at a faster rate of 11.52 percent, pushing the sector’s cost-to-income ratio up to nearly 60 percent, indicating growing pressure on profitability. Capital expenditure more than doubled to ZWG 1.08 billion, signallng aggressive investment in network expansion.
Infrastructure development remained robust, particularly in next-generation technologies. A total of 47 new 5G base stations were deployed during the quarter, bringing the national total to 366. LTE, 3G and 2G networks also expanded, with 167, and 98, and 68 new base stations respectively.
Econet retained its lead in infrastructure deployment, particularly in urban areas, with NetOne making notable gains in expanding coverage, especially in 3G and LTE networks, while Telecel showed little movement, reflecting ongoing operational challenges.
Nationally, 18.9 percent of the population—largely in urban areas—now has access to 5G services, while 3G coverage in rural areas reached 73.7 percent, highlighting continued efforts to bridge the digital divide.
Meanwhile, employment in the mobile sector stood at 2 257 workers during the quarter.
In the fixed telephony segment, subscriptions grew marginally by 0.92 percent to 304 383 lines. Fixed VoIP services posted stronger growth of 3.15 percent, reflecting gradual migration towards internet-based communication solutions.
Overall, the sector’s performance underscores a clear transition from traditional voice and SMS services to data-driven consumption, supported by sustained investment in modern network infrastructure.
New Ziana
