Econet's Business Partna network collapses

Econet Wireless Zimbabwe's Business Partna service has collapsed, forcing the company to migrate over 50,000 customers to its prepaid service.

Zimbabwe's largest mobile service provider is now facing the hurdle of acquiring a new billing system to accommodate the migrated customers.

Econet Wireless needs more than US$2.5 million to upgrade its billing system, but the company does not have the funds to do so, Econet CEO Douglas Mboweni said last week. The upgrade is proving difficult, as company funds are currently invested elsewhere, he explained.

"What we are trying to do now is to invest in the network, [rather] than putting investments in one particular service, as a way of averting a communication disaster," Mboweni said.

Zimbabwe is currently undergoing its worst economic depression in decades, with the shortage of power from the national grid and dilapidated communication infrastructure weighing down Econet's businesses. The company has had to move into non-core telecommunication activities to remain operational.