Mobile Data Revenue Hits 50% as Zimbabwe Telecoms Shift Toward Digital Services
The Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (POTRAZ) has released its abridged sector performance report for the first quarter of 2025, highlighting mixed trends ......
Black News 
The Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (POTRAZ) has released its abridged sector performance report for the first quarter of 2025, highlighting mixed trends across Zimbabwe’s telecommunications and postal industries. The report shows strong growth in data consumption and infrastructure investment, even as overall penetration rates were affected by population growth adjustments.
In the mobile and fixed telephony sector, active mobile subscriptions increased by 1.38% to more than 15.89 million users. However, the mobile penetration rate declined slightly to 101.39%, as population growth of 1.6% outpaced subscriber expansion. Market leadership remained firmly with Econet, which increased its share to 72.85%, while NetOne and Telecel recorded marginal declines. The fixed-line segment also saw modest growth, reaching 300,748 subscriptions, although traditional voice usage continued to fall as consumers increasingly shifted to internet-based communication platforms.
Data and internet services emerged as the dominant force in the sector, accounting for 50.28% of total mobile network operator revenue. Mobile data traffic recorded a sharp increase of 17.31%, rising from 97.19 petabytes to 114.02 petabytes within a single quarter. International bandwidth usage also saw significant changes, with Starlink playing a major role by accounting for 83% of the growth in used incoming international internet capacity. In addition, VSAT subscriptions rose by 32.02%, largely driven by increased adoption of satellite-based connectivity solutions.
Despite strong demand for data services, the financial performance of mobile network operators weakened during the quarter. Total revenue declined by 4.20% to ZWG 6.15 billion, while operating costs surged by more than 33%, placing pressure on profitability and worsening cost-to-income ratios across the sector. Nevertheless, operators continued to invest in infrastructure, with 5G base station deployments increasing by 53.33% as the industry accelerates its transition from legacy 2G and 3G networks to advanced LTE and 5G technologies.
In the postal and courier segment, overall volumes fell by 3.88% to approximately 316,000 items. While courier service points expanded—supported by new outlets from DHL—the sector experienced declines in both revenue and capital expenditure. Despite these challenges, operational efficiency showed slight improvement, with the cost-to-income ratio narrowing from 119% to 111%, indicating modest gains in cost management within a contracting market.
