TelOne Charges Outrageous

Columnists
PLEASE warn all your valued customers about how TelOne charges. The charge is 21c per unit, a unit is charged for the first three minutes and thereafter a unit for every 30 seconds. 

PLEASE warn all your valued customers about how TelOne charges. The charge is 21c per unit, a unit is charged for the first three minutes and thereafter a unit for every 30 seconds. 

Thus the minimum charge is 21c and after three minutes the charge is two units a minute –ie 42c per minute.  A four-minute call costs 63c, five minutes is US$1,05, and so on.

This now makes sense as to why the phone bills are so very high, especially for those using TelOne for Internet access.  In the Zimbabwe Independent’s businessdigest (June 5-11) TelOne’s acting public relations executive, Collin Welbesi, was quoted as saying that they charge 7c per minute.  It was also reported that “the average local usage per month at a household level is 200 units which translates into 600 minutes” (TEN hours!).  This is obviously a distortion of the true position and typifies the half-truths we have become so used to accepting from the previous regime.   TelOne customers should bewarned not to use their services for Internet, email or business. One Internet usage (or phone call) of 30 minutes costs US$11,55 or almost half what Econet is charging for one month’s 24-hour Internet service.  TelOne’s “rental” for handsets I have to supply is US$25 or again what Econet charges per month for their 24-hour Internet service.  This is all totally outrageous.Econet charges 25c per minute (depending on the system) so a 10-minute call costs around US$2,50 – keep your calls short and sweet! 

Alan McCormick,Harare.