HARARE – State-owned mobile phone operator, NetOne, has introduced WhatsApp and Facebook bundles as the firm seeks to boost its average revenue per user and maintain a broadband subscriber base.
In a notice, the firm said its “Easy bundles” would allow subscribers to surf the Internet, use WhatsApp and Facebook at affordable rates.
According to the notice, WhatsApp bundles for a day cost $0,27, $0,87 for one week and $2,80 for a month. Facebook bundles for one day are pegged at $0,27, $0,87 for one week and $2,80 per month.
To access the bundles, a subscriber has to dial *171#. NetOne also said subscribers would get cheap access at $5 for a monthly combo with the weekly combo pegged at $1,60 while a day’s combo costs $0,50.
The firm said it would soon embark on a network expansion project following the release of $$65 million from the Exim Bank of China in January this year. The money, which is a 30 percent deposit of the total credit facility, was released to Huawei International of China, a company contracted to undertake the network expansion.
NetOne managing director Reward Kangai said the deposit was a down payment that would enable the contractor to start manufacturing the telecommunications equipment including towers and base stations.
This will see the country’s telecommunications firm, with 3.3 million subscribers, expanding its network capacity to accommodate more users and improve voice quality and data speeds going up to 4G technology.
Last year, the government signed a concessional loan agreement with China Exim Bank worth $218,9 million for NetOne’s network expansion under the company’s Phase II project.
The loan carries an interest rate of two percent per annum and is payable over a period of 20 years. The Chronicle
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