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Tonderai Rutsito Tech spot
An impeccable source recently revealed that Telone has the largest telecommunication infrastructure in Zimbabwe, leading all the mobile network operators yet on ground the figures do not project the same on subscriber base.

After years of pointing all the blame to sanctions, vandalisation , unpaid bills and dilapidating infrastructure, the fresh new leadership team at Telone has been taking a head on approach to turn around the technological titanic .

With a lastly reported subscriber base of 307 000 subscribers, which is a meagre 2.7% penetration rate, Telone will need to be much more innovative and unleash their arsenal vigorously now than any other time ever.

Lately Telone has proved that it is no stranger to comeback strategies as they bounce back to relevance in a highly digitalised environment for an organisation which has survived a better part of its lifetime in a highly analogue system.

Telone last week  held a strategic breakfast consultative meeting with their clients at Chapman Golf Club where they conversed on various business strategies and their next upcoming exciting products as they consolidate ground as Zimbabwe`s converged service provider.

In a serious comeback move of a sleeping giant, Telone have been standing up tall, revitalising damaged infrastructure, restoring vandalised poles, reconnecting customers and digging fresh fibre optic connectivity trenches to sustain their backbone system.

The marketing director with Telone Mr Joseph Machiva during the breakfast meeting said that Telone is unbundling itself to the clients as they offer much more Internet Protocol based services besides the landline business they are well known of.

“Tel•One offers real-time solutions at high bandwidth and uses various media including fibre optics, Digital subscriber line, (DSL) and Very small aperture terminal (VSat), the services include VPN (Virtual Private Network), International Leased Circuits (ILC’s), also known as International Private Leased Lines.

IPLCs function as point to point circuits which are secure and exclusive to the user connecting anywhere in the world. These are ideal for organisations with high volumes of data transmission or which need high security in data transfer.

A wide range of data transmission speeds allows you to grow your services as required. Our high quality network ensures high-speed, and connectivity for delay- sensitive applications” said Mr Machiva.

VSAT is capable of providing connectivity to very remote locations and is particularly useful in areas where communications infrastructure is limited or non-existent.

It supports voice, data and video services, Wide geographical coverage; can be located anywhere while you experience the same quality and same access, Reliable data broadcast or multicast, Vsat is there to keep you in touch in areas perceived to be out of touch.

Telone has also thrived by offering Leased Internet Services . These are dedicated Internet services that operate on a 24/7 basis. Leased lines provide high speed symmetrical connectivity with unlimited access.

They are the pioneers of the old Dial Up technology which is a landline dependent technology, as the name suggests the customer dials a Com•One number and gets connected to the internet, unfortunately Customer cannot make calls while connected to the internet. Dial Up pioneered the early days of online connectivity but it has been greatly abandoned due to low speeds issues.

Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL) is their new service they have been aggressively pushing lately. This allows the customer to connect to the internet using the landline. The customer can use the telephone to make or receive calls while surfing the internet.Telone breakfast group photo2

Telone has scored points in finding value from the old copper cable wires which they already have for voice calls to move large chunks of data for internet connectivity. This has made connectivity easy and welcomed by many people who can now easily use their old lines or simply apply for a new line to get both voice and data connectivity.

Currently Telone is running heavy promotions on their ADSL platform from their bronze category, an entry level costing $31 where one will get a free landline installation as bonus. Their silver category has 256 kBps / 64 connection speed and a 10GB maxmum download cap.

Their silver package of 512 kBps download speed and 256kb/s upload plus a download ceiling of 15 gig will get one a free landline installation plus internet modem which readies for straight voice and data connection.

From their gold and platinum packages of 1mb/s and 2mb/s respectively they are giving away free landline installation, free internet modem plus a cordless handset. An extra one month free subscription is also offered to clients who choose the platinum package, Gold has a 20g maxmum download while platinum is unlimited. The platinum package is currently their fastest offering on ADSL.

Asked what they are doing about complaints of slow speeds with ADSL entry package, Mr Machiva said that Telone has greatly improved their speeds recently and dared customers to retry the same package.

“We have been doing a network upgrade on our system and optimisation, I will not disclose the full strategy now but can assure you that all of our ADSL packages have greatly improved recently, just try them now and you wont be disappointed.

Our clients are satisfied we offer the best and most affordable internet services in this country and we will continue to offer tailor made solutions for Zimbabweans” he said

The writer is the editor of TechnoMag,  Zimbabwe`s Premier Technology Magazine, more   on www.technomag.co.zw or  http://goo.gl/C5qNlt join us on our facebook page www.facebook.com/technomagzw  Email articles[at]technomag.co.zw tweet @TechnoMagZw