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Business Reporter
STATE-OWNED telecommunications operator TelOne has to date drawn down $54 million from its $98 million facility for the National Broadband (NBB) Project financed by the ChinaEXIM Bank as the company moves to enhance capacity and get a competitive market edge.

The converged telecommunications provider which recorded a $25 million loss in the year ending December 31, 2016 largely blamed on legacy debt emanating from the unbundling of the Posts and Telecommunication Corporation (PTC) in 2000 is on a capacity building drive which is targeting growth from voice and data services.

In a market update statement released on Wednesday, the company said it has now finished the implementation of the backbone fibre linking Zimbabwe and South Africa through the Bulawayo-Beitbridge route.

Also being worked on is the migration from exchanges. To date 65 exchanges have been migrated and this has seen the introduction of faster internet, video calling and conferencing and toll free services while on data clients can now get 100 percent data depending on their usage.

“The National Broadband (NBB) project which is being implemented by TelOne under the $98 million ChinaEXIM Bank facility has to date drawn down $54million which has seen TelOne network expansion and modernisation,” said the state entity.

“TelOne has completed the implementation of the backbone fibre linking Zimbabwe and South Africa through the Bulawayo-Beitbridge route. This route will see bandwidth landing costs into the country being reduced by up to 40 percent.

“To date 65 exchanges have already been migrated under this on-going process. This migration has also seen the change of all the country’s area codes and modification of telephone numbers in some instances. This development has facilitated the introduction of faster internet, video calling and conferencing, toll free services among other value added services.

“TelOne has boosted the introduction of the pre-paid voice service with the introduction of voice bundling for all clients on pre-paid voice,” said the statement.

The telecommunications firm has had to invest more resources in growing its broadband capacity as the contribution of voice calls to total revenue continues to tumble due to increased competition from mobile network providers.

Broadband revenue last year rose from $28 million in 2015 to $33 million accounting for a third of the company’s earnings. Conversely, voice revenues have been shrinking and last year they recorded a 25 percent tumble to $73 million. The company is aiming to grow broadband revenue to 48 percent by 2020.