Online activity has surged in the past months and will remain so for quite a long time to come. Zimbabwe is typically known for having some of the steepest internet package prices in Africa. It is no wonder why online-based initiatives struggle to gain momentum in Zimbabwe. In this article, I want to do a comparative analysis of internet data packages in Zimbabwe at the moment. I am going to look at mobile network operators and some key players such as TelOne and ZOL.

Mobile Network Operators (MNOs)

On MNOs I am going to look at NetOne, Econet and Telecel. I will mainly focus on daily data bundles, hourly data bundles, and private Wi-Fi data bundles. My reason for that is simple; they are the packages that have some appreciable value.

NetOne

Daily Data Bundles

For NetOne’s daily data bundles I will just mention 4 packages only. These are 200 MB, 480 MB, 960 MB, and 1200 MB. They cost ZWL$110, ZWL$220, ZWL$300, and ZWL$350 respectively. These are packages that are valid for 24 hours.

Hourly Data Bundle

This is a data bundle valid for 1 hour that costs ZWL$60.

Private Wi-Fi Bundles

NetOne has 3 packages namely Plus, Ultra, and Extreme. They cost ZWL$7000, ZWL$7000, and ZWL$15000 respectively. One Fi Plus is 25 GB, Ultra is 50 GB, and Extreme is 80 GB. These bundles are valid for one month.

Econet

Daily Data Bundles

For Econet, I will just mention two packages namely, 600 MB and 1.2 GB. These cost ZWL$150 and ZWL$225 respectively. The bundles are valid for 24 hours.

Private Wi-Fi Bundles

The packages are as follows, 8 GB, 15 GB, 25 GB, and 50 GB. They cost ZWL$600, ZWL$950, ZWL$7000, and ZWL$2200. They are all valid for one month.

Telecel

Daily Data Bundles

Just like Econet, I will mention two packages namely, 600 MB and 1.4 GB. These cost ZWL$140 and ZWL$210 respectively. They are valid for 24 hours.

Night Bundles

Telecel happens to be the only MNO offering night data bundles at the moment. The two packages it offers are 1 GB and 2.048 GB which cost ZWL$60 and ZWL$100 respectively. They are valid for 1 night and 2 nights respectively. They are usable between 2300hrs and 0500hrs.

Private Wi-Fi Bundles

Telecel has 5 packages namely, 5 GB, 10 GB, 20 GB, 50 GB, and 75 GB. They cost ZWL$350, ZWL$600, ZWL$950, ZWL$1750, and ZWL$2250 respectively. These are valid for one month. Something to note here is that these bundles are not necessarily similar to the NetOne and Econet ones. For Telecel you have to purchase a Telecel router to access these bundles.

TelOne

TelOne has several packages namely, Residential Broadband, SME Broadband, Blaze LTE, and Public Wi-Fi.

Residential Broadband

Home Basic

This is 10 GB costing US$10 or ZWL$722.

Home Basic Night

This is 20 GB costing US$13 or ZWL$938.

Home Extra

This is 15 GB costing US$11 or ZWL$794.

Home Plus

This is 30 GB costing US$17 or ZWL$1227.

Home Plus Night

This is 60 GB costing US$22 or ZWL$1587.

Home Premier

This is 60 GB costing US$29 or ZWL$2092.

Home Premier Night

This is 120 GB costing US$37 or ZWL$2670.

Home Boost

This is 200 GB costing US$42 or ZWL$3030.

Infinity Pro

This is 500 GB costing US$61 or ZWL$4401.

Intense

This is uncapped and costs US$83 or ZWL$5988.

SME Broadband

Infinity Supreme

The download speed is 20 megabytes per second and the package is uncapped. Infinity Supreme costs US$104 or ZWL$7504.

Intense Extra

The download speed is 50 megabytes per second and the package is also uncapped. Intense Extra costs US$139 or ZWL$10029.

Blaze LTE

Blaze Lite

Download cap is 8 GB and costs US$9 or ZWL$649.

Blaze Xtra

Download cap is 15 GB and costs US$14 or ZWL$1010.

Blaze Boost

Download cap is 20 GB and costs US$18 or ZWL$1299.

Blaze Ultra

Download cap is 40 GB and costs US$29 0r ZWL$2092.

Blaze Trailblazer

Download cap is 100 GB and costs US$44 or ZWL$3175.

Blaze Supernova

This is uncapped and costs US$87 or ZWL$6277.

Public Wi-Fi

There are 3 packages here namely, 1 GB, 2.5 GB, and 6 GB. They cost US$1 or ZWL$72, US$2 or ZWL$144, and US$3 or ZWL$216 respectively.

ZOL

There are numerous ZOL packages I will just mention some of them. Some of the unlimited packages are Fibroniks Family Entertainment, Fibroniks Modern Family, and Fibroniks Power Pack. These cost US$149 or ZWL$10750, US$199 or ZWL$14357 and US$290 or ZWL$20923 respectively.

Some of the Wibroniks office packages are Wibroniks Nano Office, Wibroniks Micro Office, and Wibroniks Small Office. They cost US$125 or ZWL$9018, US$185 or ZWL$13347 and US$295 or ZWL$21283 respectively.

Some of the Pay As You Go packages are Fibroniks Zoom, Fibroniks Lite, and Fibroniks Basic Essentials. They cost US$11 or ZWL$794, US$29 or ZWL$2092, and US$39 or ZWL$2814 respectively.

E-Learning Bundles

NetOne

NetOne has 3 packages as follows: 9 GB, 13 GB, and 20 GB. They cost ZWL$150, ZWL$200, and ZWL$250 respectively. They are valid for one month.

Econet

Econet has two packages for 10 GB and 20 GB which cost ZWL$200 and ZWL$350 respectively.

Telecel

Telecel has 4 packages namely, Funda Lite (costing ZWL$90), Funda Standard (costing ZWL$170), Funda Heavy (costing ZWL$330), and Funda Heavy+ (costing ZWL$650). They have 5 GB, 10 GB, 20 GB, and 40 GB respectively.

There you go folks, an overview of prices of internet packages in Zimbabwe. No one MNO or service provider is an all-rounder. Some offer better packages than others but also might be offering unfavourable packages in other areas. In terms of private Wi-Fi Econet is more preferable at the moment. For e-learning bundles, Telecel has more options than NetOne and Econet. I have been hearing incessant complaints about ZOL. What are your comments regarding these packages? Which ones work best for you? Kindly post your comments below.