By Takura Zhangazha.*
Zimbabwe’s largest mobile telephone company Econet Wireless celebrates
it’s 15th anniversary this month. I must confess to not having
remembered or noticed this same said anniversary were it not for the
advertorials in all of the country’s major newspapers. Reading through the latter,
there is evidence that the corporation is not only run by a determined
leadership but that it intends to continue providing varying and diverse services
that come with mobile telephony. And that cannot be faulted whether when discussing
Econet Wireless or any other company in the same field. What is however unique about this particular entity is its history as a corporation that the then government did not
favour nor support at infancy.
It was to take a Supreme/Constitutional court challenge on
how the monopoly of the state in telecommunications infringed the right of the
same company to receive and impart information (and subsequent legal battles) for
it to be allowed to operate in the country.
Add to this the public expectation and anticipation that it was to be one
of the first companies with the intention of bringing the mobile phone as a
communication accessory to ordinary (not just elite) Zimbabwean citizens.
It is these two points that make Econet Wireless not only emblematic but
an important gamechanger where and when it comes to reflections on Zimbabwe’s
history of interacting with new telecommunications technologies. Admittedly
these technologies were not as new in the Northern hemisphere, but the truth be
told, it is Econet that brought them into the popular communication culture and
practice of everyday Zimbabweans (anyone remember ‘Liberty Lines’?). The
arrival of Econet Wireless, therefore, was an epochal shift in the manner in which Zimbabweans
communicated.
It is little remembered that the expansion of the cellular phone services in our country came via a protracted legal battle against the backdrop of a
government that sought more to inhibit private telecommunication players before
it entered the market via its parastatal, the Postal and Telecommunications
Corporation (PTC). The reasons given may have been many, and those privy to the
court processes may know better, but the overall impression was that government
was averse to technology it felt it couldn't control directly in relation to
content or profit. It was to be the Zimbabwean Supreme Court (sitting as a
constitutional court) that put the matter to rest in favour of Econet Wireless.
What the
dispute however showed was either a misunderstanding of global technological trends
on the part of government or a direct approach of seeking a monopoly on an
idea/issue which cannot function on that same basis. (Even the eventual attempts
to license Telecel Zimbabwe before Econet were to be turned down by the Supreme
Court.)
There is also an important component to the Econet Wireless' success
story besides that of its infancy. This has been the impact of its spread and
reach over the telecommunications market in Zimbabwe and the attendant societal
change it has ushered in. While initially some may argue that given the general intransigence of government
toward it, the company initially entered the mobile telecommunications market on a
tide of public sympathy. Its main ticket to success thus far has however been its
ability to stay ahead of the pack technologically by offering newer telephone
ancillary services in keeping with global trends. And this is key.
While initially mobile telephone accessories had been hugely
expensive (like buying a phone sim card for $100 back in the 2000s, whichever of the three mobile companies one subscribed to) the roll out of greater connectivity on
its part has led to more Zimbabweans being connected in one way of the other
via mobile telephony. And the impact has been massive.
Particularly where
Econet Wireless was among the first and still leads in rolling out (third generation) telephony
and as a result all mobile phone subscribers can now connect to the World Wide
Web and social media applications such as whatsup.
This has meant that Zimbabwean society has not only joined global information
sharing trends but is also able to communicate at a
cheaper cost than before. And the latest product that the company has been
offering, ahead of the pack and much to the chagrin of mainstream banks, has
been Ecocash, the mobile phone money transfer system.
But the sum total of it all has been the fact that for all
our politics, Zimbabwe does not operate in isolation from the rest of the
world. And telecommunications, inclusive of mobile telephony as well as satellite
television are evidence of the fact that it was a mistake by government to
either seek to monopolise or to reign in the industry as regards technology
transfer, content and other ancillary services it offers.
While Econet Wireless is not the only player in the mobile telephone business
in Zimbabwe, its background and history warrant some reflection. Not out of
favour but more out of honesty. An honesty which resides in the fact that for
all its pursuit of profit and functioning as a business corporation, Econet Wireless was eventually founded on the pretext of Section 20 of our then constitution, which
read inter alia, ‘everyone has the right to receive and impart information without hindrance’. And
therefore, one can only wish that company, a happy 15th anniversary.
*Takura Zhangazha writes here in his personal capacity
(takura-zhangazha.blgospot.com)
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