By Beverly Bizeki
Locals using NetOne network will soon be able to enjoy better connectivity with the government-run operator set to launch Fifth Generation (5G) network in August this year.
Addressing parliamentarians a joint portfolio committee on Information Communication Technologies postal and Courier Services and Media and Broadcasting Services Induction workshop held at Clevers Hotel in Masvingo on May 12, NetOne Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO) Raphael Mushanawani said the organization had to learn on the profitability of the investment first before switching on and was ready to launch.
“We are keen as an organization to make sure we move with trends taking place across the world. We shared a lot of information regarding the experiences of other operators on how they have done it, particularly in Africa and Asia, none of those operators have had a good return on their investment. That’s why we delayed launching 5G.
“We have learned; we now know where and when to deploy 5G. I am happy to announce that we will be switching on our 5G network by the month of August 2024. I am sure that our parliamentarians will be able to experience this by the Parliament House by then,” said Mushanawani.
Mushanawani however said deployment of the network will be done in stages and will target groups that have demand for high speeds first for returns on investment.
“We will continuously deploy 5G the way we are deploying 4G, we are going to be targeting specific markets who have demand for high data speeds that will give return on data speeds,” said Mushanawani.
As of 2024, the operator had 74 percent 2G Land area coverage and 85 percent total population, 57 percent land area coverage for 3G network with 65 percent of the population covered. On 4G the operator has only been able to cover 31 percent land area coverage and 36 percent total population.
Mushanawani also said the company like many others was facing challenges on skills flight losing engineers despite efforts to keep the skilled workers at the company.
“The technical department continues to lose engineers despite promotions and remuneration reviews. Shortage of required skills, especially developers is a stumbling block to project delivery
