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Rutendo Rori Mash East Correspondent
Vandalism and theft of copper cables have hit TelOne’s operations, resulting in the firm losing over $50 million in revenue since the beginning of the year, an official has said.

In an interview with The Herald Finance and Business recently after handing over 1 000 fruit tree seedlings to Marondera Prison Farm for the national tree planting day, TelOne managing director Mrs Chipo Mtasa said copper cables’ theft resulted in poor service provision by the company, with more than 50 000 subscribers having been affected this year.

“Network vandalism has become rampant nationwide affecting TelOne’s service provision, especially for our voice and broadband services, which we call ADSL. You find out that a lot of copper cables are being stolen and taken to the black market where they are sold. At dollar terms, more than $50 million has been lost this year due to copper cables vandalism and theft. As a result, more than 50 000 subscribers have been affected this year alone,” she said.