ECONET Wireless Zimbabwe will not be launching its 3G service this year but the good news is early next year subscribers can look forward to the service, CEO Douglas Mboweni said.
Mboweni said 3G service would be available initially in Harare and later extend to all the major cities by the end of next year.
“We ran successful 3G tests in Harare following authorisations from the regulator. As we prepare for a full launch, we are proceeding into test marketing, where we will offer the service to a test panel of subscribers while new bandwidth is being built in,” Mboweni said. Econet will use a combination of terrestrial (land) links and satellite to broaden its international bandwidth, which is key to all data services.All new technology being installed on the Econet Wireless network as part of on-going expansion is at least EDGE-capable, which means it can support modern data services, the company said.How does 3G works work? With 3G, one can make person to person video calls, which means one sees the person he/she is calling, provided of course both people are on 3G and using 3G compatible devices.One can also do video live streaming, download videos at fast speeds or can also send a colleague a video message. On the business front, executives can hold video conferences with clients, send them pictures, documents or data, and be able to receive instant feedback without a physical meeting or even being in the office. On the financial front, transactions also become easier and faster. One can do banking on the move. Apart from allowing users to access mobile email and internet, GPRS is being used for other critical services such as vehicle tracking systems and point-of-sale terminals.
