Now it goes without saying the crazy demand and impact Starlink has had on Zimbabwe, but this past month of its entry and rollout in Zim might as well have been a proper gold rush. In a space of two weeks, most of Harare was basically filled to capacity, with most of the availability for the capital city taken up making some resort to buying roaming packages again. And while many would consider this to be a consumers move, it’s surprising how Zimbabwean companies have aimed to take advantage of this. Everyone from DSTV installers who claim to be able to install Starlink kits(an iffy claim at best), electronics shops selling range extenders or other equipment and banks that kept advertising how their specific VISA / Mastercard offerings are built with Starlink purchases (and other international transactions) in mind. Starlink hasn’t just been a new technology granting Zimbos access to amazing internet at much better prices, it’s a whole market opportunity for businesses and consumers alike. No wonder it filled the country’s business capital so quickly.

The craziest part however, is would be competitors like Dandemutande, and more shockingly , TelOne, signing up to become Starlink Ressellers. If headlines and press releases from both companies had never been released, I might have thought it as a joke or a weird dream, yet it’s very real. For Dandemutande, everyone has known about their Starlink aspirations since last December. But TelOne? If anything people were probably hoping they would cut prices like Liquid Home did or introduce some new packages meant to take on Starlink and likely be a cheaper than Liquid or Econet. But well, we guess TelOne can add being master tricksters to their arsenal because we didn’t see the reseller move coming at all. And to be fair, if you look at it from a simple money perspective, it makes sense. TelOne is cashing in on the gold rush as well, considering it already has a network of corporate and individual customers to which it can probably sell Starlink kits and  make a lot of money in the short term. But in the long term, it does feel like a bit of a suicidal move. And even if it’s not it honestly feels like the kind of move at least some TelOne employees and Execs are probably not happy about. I mean imagine if  Apple started selling Google Pixel phones because they currently have better AI features at the moment. But hopefully, TelOne knows how to navigate this tricky move its made, and doesn’t outright kill itself, especially with all the political red tape that has come up with being a reseller, as other companies like Frampol have been outright banned from the activity by POTRAZ. Still, all this brings one important question to the forefront: how does all this affect a certain blue, white, and red telecom company?

Econet’s mixed signals and market movement.

It would be an understatement to say that basically the whole county’s eyes are on Econet right now. After all they are not only the market leader and largest mobile network provider in the nation, but they’re also the company that basically owns Liquid Telecom (aka ZOL) and I’d arguably one the most successful companies in our nation’s history while clearly also one of the most staunch monopolies around. So literally whatever they do now will directly impact the nation’s Telecoms market and probably change the nature of it as we know it. Which is probably why Econet has done…..kind of nothing so far? At least not anything of note that is. The company definitely seemed to respond with some zeal when the Starlink launch happened, with Econet SmartBiz lines looking like they would champion much faster speeds and (sort of) unlimited data for everyone. Early speed tests had Zimbos excited and the (very reasonable) pondering of whether everyone actually needs Starlink began to be asked. Unfortunately within less than two weeks Econet basically kneecaped SmartBiz, by literally capping and throttling its speeds. Combine that with the weird barriers to entry like having to buy their $200 modem (or proving you have a WiFi 6 router) and suddenly the would-be Starlink competitor is basically not an option for most people who either couldn’t afford the kits when they launched or is now on the seemingly super long Zimbabwean wait-list. Now TechnoMag and others have reported a $30 Unlimited Econet bundle in the past week or so that again, likely seems to be the Starlink competitor. But dear Econet, get a little better at your marketing at the very least? Better yet come out and say threat you are launching this. It could help you save face and of course get people clamoring to pay for the service. And I’m not saying you have no reasons to do this, but maybe right now don’t look like a floundering group of fools, yes?

After all, even Powertel has just released a $30 unlimited bundle to combat the Starlink influx. And yes , to be fair Econet is not as threatened as smaller players like that. Especially those who use such connections for business purposes. Econet knows that in’s biggest market is the average person buying bundles for Instagram and YouTube. But It can’t be blind to the growth opportunity here. Let alone the chance to basically help define a market like it did with mobile data to begin with back in the late 2000s and early 2010s. Unfortunately Econet (and NetOne for that matter) doesn’t seem to want to take that route, possibly waiting to see everyone else make a move fist before it dives in. It’s the kind of advantage only a monopoly can have, but if Econet is not careful many of those advantages may start falling away. But again, perhaps they know  something we don’t.

Telecel, Africom and (maybe) NetOne possibly being bought by a UK Company.

Now let’s be clear, out of everything we’ve talked about in this article this is probably the thing  that seems the most unlikely, especially since at best, it is a bunch of unsubstantiated claims by a company that seems to barely exist. However , based on a TechZim report from last week , the UK-based company Clear Mobitel, which has expressed interest in investing in Zimbabwe’s telecom industry, has now gone on to state how they want to not only inject cash investments into the likes of Telecel and Africom, but maybe outright acquire them as well. Which honestly, sounds a little crazy to say the least. This is further compounded that the TechZim article goes on to explicitly state how unprofessional the document stating this is, with NetOne being mentioned in the heading but the rest of the document actually talking about Africom. All of which I’m sure you can see makes everything harder to truly comprehend. What does seem to be the bottom line however is that Telecel and Africom could be getting some cash investment from a slightly shady company. Now if this is true, it could help both companies get on their feet after years of barely operating due to multiple ownership and leadership fiascos. The only question is if two minor (but very important) players in our own telecoms space get swept up or “revived” by a European company, what does it mean for them? Both from a services and product offering perspective but also from a simple existential point of view. Are these companies going to have the same priorities? Can we be sure they don’t become worse? Either way if any of this is true, we could be up for some very crazy future in landscape of our telecom companies or mobile network providers.

And thus, all these disparate stories make it very clear that our telecoms industry is about to make a change. Whether its pricing structures, products and models shifting to ward off Starlink, whole companies shifting agendas to make the most of the Starlink situation, or legacy players possibly getting changed inside out due to new ownership. It’s literally a crazy time for this industry right now. And while not all of it links back to  Starlink, one can’t help but feel it became an extra motivator for everything happening right now. And even if it isn’t a motivator, It picked a hell of a time to start operating in Zim.

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