Zimbabwe - Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband - Statistics and Analyses

Zimbabwe - Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband - Statistics and Analyses

Zimbabwe’s MNOs increase tariffs for voice and data services to address pressure on revenue The Zimbabwean government has for some years addressed the country’s economic difficulties by finding ways to tax telecom services. Telcos have also been under economic pressure, facing stresses on revenue and on their ability to invest in infrastructure and network upgrades. This has encouraged the telcos to increase tariffs, supported by the regulator. During 2019 and 2020, the regulator imposed three tariff hikes in succession as it strove to alleviate the financial burden suffered by the MNOs which must pay for international bandwidth and network equipment in foreign currency. In April 2019 tariffs for mobile voice calls were increased by 23%, while in the following November they were increased by 95%. A third hike in March 2020 saw the tariffs increased by 55%. These hikes were responses to the deterioration of the economy. In early 2022, telcos increased tariffs again, by up to 20%, as they sought to adjust to pressure on revenue. There are numerous taxes on telecom services, which add to the burden on telcos and end-users. A 15% VAT has applied to mobile airtime since 2009, while in 2015 a 5% excise duty on airtime sales was imposed, as well as a 25% tax on handsets and a five cents levy per transaction on mobile money transfers. In November 2021, telcos called on the government to reduce the high tax burdens placed on them. Taxes at the time included a 5% health levy, the 15% VAT, a 25% corporate tax, a 3% universal service fee, and a 2% tax on m-money transfers (the Intermediated Money Transfer Tax). Despite these appeals, the government in March 2022 introduced a 10% excise duty on ISPs. There is also the prospect of a new tax on companies involved in e-commerce, digital advertising, content, cloud computing, e-commerce, and a range of online services such as gambling and gaming. Within this catchment are the major online players such as Google, YouTube, and Facebook, as well as streaming providers such as Netflix. In addition to taxes, there is a $50 levy on imported smartphones. This levy was imposed in November 2021 after the government realised that the existing 25% duty on mobile handset imports was easily evaded.


  • Executive Summary
  • Key statistics
    • Table Top Level Country Statistics and Telco Authorities - Zimbabwe - 2021 (e)
  • Regional Africa Market Comparison
    • MARKET CHARACTERISTICS
    • MARKET LEADERS
    • MARKET CHALLENGERS
    • MARKET EMERGENTS
    • TMI VS GDP
    • MOBILE AND MOBILE BROADBAND PENETRATION
    • FIXED VERSUS MOBILE BROADBAND PENETRATION
  • Country overview
  • Covid-19 and its impact on the telecom sector
    • ECONOMIC CONSIDERATIONS AND RESPONSES
    • SUBSCRIBERS
    • INFRASTRUCTURE
  • Telecommunications market
    • HISTORICAL OVERVIEW
    • MARKET ANALYSIS
      • Table Change in telecom revenue by services ($ million) - 2012 - 2018
      • Table Change in telecom revenue by services inflated (ZW$ million) - 2019 - 2021
  • Regulatory environment
    • REGULATORY AUTHORITY
    • FIXED-LINE DEVELOPMENTS
      • Sector Reform Policy 1996
      • Posts and Telecommunications Act 2000
      • Telecom sector liberalisation
      • SNO licence
      • Privatisation
      • Licence fees
      • ICT Strategy 2010
      • ICT Strategy 2015
      • National Policy for ICT Act 2016
      • International gateways, interconnection
      • Taxes
      • Universal Service Fund (USF)
      • Subscriber registration
      • Infrastructure sharing
      • Converged Licensing Framework (CLF)
    • MOBILE MARKET DEVELOPMENTS
      • SIM card registration
      • Fourth mobile licence
      • Mobile Number Portability (MNP)
      • Network sharing
      • Spectrum auction
      • Spectrum Allocation Plan
  • Mobile market
    • MARKET ANALYSIS
      • Table Development of mobile voice traffic - 2012 - 2021
      • Table Development of mobile market financial data ($ million) - 2012 - 2018
      • Table Mobile market financial data inflated (ZW$ million) - 2019 - 2021
      • Table Growth in the number of base stations in service by technology - 2013 - 2021
      • Table Change in the market share of GSM base stations by operator - 2015 - 2021
      • Table Change in the market share of 3G base stations by operator - 2015 - 2021
      • Table Change in the market share of LTE base stations by operator - 2015 - 2021
    • MOBILE STATISTICS
      • Table Change in the number of mobile subscribers and penetration - 2012 - 2027
      • Table Change in the number of active mobile subscriptions by operator (million) –2012 - 2021
      • Table Change in the market share of active mobile subscriptions by operator - 2012 - 2021
    • MOBILE INFRASTRUCTURE
      • 5G
      • 4G (LTE)
      • 3G
      • Satellite mobile
    • MOBILE DATA
      • Table Growth in mobile data traffic - 2012 - 2021
      • Table Change in the market share of mobile data traffic by operator - 2015 - 2021
    • MOBILE BROADBAND
      • Table Growth in the number of mobile broadband subscribers and penetration – 2012 - 2027
    • MAJOR MOBILE OPERATORS
      • Econet Wireless Zimbabwe (EWZ)
        • Table Development of Econet Wireless's financial data ($ million) - 2012 - 2019
        • Table Development of Econet Wireless's financial data inflated (ZW$ million) –2020 - 2022
        • Table Growth in Econet Wireless's data revenue - 2012 - 2019
        • Table Growth in Econet Wireless's data revenue inflated (ZW$) - 2020 - 2022
        • Table Growth in the number of Econet Wireless's mobile subscribers - 2012 - 2021
      • NetOne
        • Table Decline in the number of NetOne's active mobile subscribers - 2012 - 2021
      • Telecel Zimbabwe
        • Table Change in the number of Telecel's active mobile subscribers - 2012 - 2021
      • Mobile Virtual Network operators (MVNOs)
    • MOBILE CONTENT AND APPLICATIONS
      • Money transfer, m-banking
        • Table Increase in the number of Econet Wireless's registered EcoCash subscribers - 2012 - 2019
        • Table Econet Wireless's active EcoCash subscribers (regulator data) - 2015 - 2020
        • Table Development of Econet Wireless's EcoCash revenue - 2013 - 2017
        • Table Econet Wireless EcoCash transactions - 2013 - 2018
        • Table Increase in the number of Econet Wireless's EcoCash agents - 2013 - 2018
        • Table Market share of active m-money subscribers by operator - 2015 - 2020
        • Table Mobile money market subscribers and agents - 2013 - 2020
        • Table Change in the value of the m-money market ($ million) - 2016 - 2018
        • Table Change in the value of the m-money market inflated (ZW$ million) - 2019 - 2020
      • M-commerce
  • Fixed-line broadband market
    • INTRODUCTION AND STATISTICAL OVERVIEW
      • Table Increase in internet access revenue and investment ($ million) - 2012 - 2018
      • Table Increase in internet access revenue and investment inflated (ZW$ million) –2019 - 2021
      • Broadband statistics
        • Table Growth in the number of internet subscribers and penetration - 2012 - 2021
        • Table Growth in the number of fixed-line broadband subscribers and penetration - 2012 - 2027
      • Zimbabwe Internet Exchange (ZINX)
      • National Broadband Project
    • DIGITAL SUBSCRIBER LINE (DSL) NETWORKS
      • Table Growth in the number of DSL subscribers - 2012 - 2021
      • ISP market
        • Table Growth in the number of Ecoweb's data subscribers - 2012 - 2019
        • Table Ecoweb broadband revenue - 2013 - 2019
        • Table Ecoweb broadband revenue inflated - 2020 - 2022
    • FIBRE-TO-THE-PREMISES (FTTP)
      • Table Growth in the number of fibre broadband subscribers - 2013 - 2021
    • OTHER FIXED BROADBAND SERVICES
      • WiMAX
        • Table Decline in the number of WiMAX internet subscribers - 2013 - 2021
      • Wi-Fi
      • Satellite broadband
        • Table Satellite internet subscribers - 2013 - 2021
  • Digital Economy
    • E-COMMERCE
    • E-LEARNING
    • E-HEALTH
  • Fixed network operators
    • TELONE
      • Table TelOne financial data ($ million) - 2012 - 2018
      • Table TelOne financial data (ZW$ million) - 2019 - 2020
      • Table TelOne revenue by type ($ million) - 2014 - 2018
      • Table TelOne revenue by type (ZW$ million) - 2019 - 2020
      • Fixed-line infrastructure
    • TELEACCESS ZIMBABWE
    • AFRITELL
  • Telecommunications infrastructure
    • OVERVIEW OF THE NATIONAL TELECOM NETWORK
      • Table Decline in the number of fixed lines in service and teledensity - 2012 - 2027
      • Table Change in fixed-line telephony revenue - 2013 - 2018
      • Table Change in fixed-line telephony revenue inflated - 2019 - 2021
      • Table Fixed-line voice traffic - 2012 - 2021
    • SMART GRID INFRASTRUCTURE
    • INTERNATIONAL INFRASTRUCTURE
      • Table Increase in international internet bandwidth - 2012 - 2021
      • Table International bandwidth by operator (Mb/s) - 2015 - 2021
      • TelOne
      • Econet
      • Other carriers
      • Data centres
      • Internet Exchange Point (IXP)
  • Appendix - Historic data
    • Table Historic - Mobile subscriptions and penetration rate in Zimbabwe - 1999 - 2011
    • Table Historic - Active mobile subscriptions - 2000 - 2011
    • Table Historic - Fixed lines in service and teledensity in Zimbabwe - 1999 - 2011
    • Table Historic - Fixed-line broadband subscribers and penetration - 2001 - 2011
    • Table Historic - International bandwidth - 2002 - 2011
    • Table Historic - LTE mobile internet subscribers - 2014 - 2017
    • Table Historic - National backbone fibre length - 2013 - 2017
  • Glossary of abbreviations
  • Related reports

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