Maintaining continuous connectivity is invaluable, especially today, as many businesses rely on remote and hybrid work models. As such, the chief priority of every telecommunications service provider (telco) is to ensure their customers’ networks remain operational even during disruptions to normal operations.
Zimbabwe is currently grappling with aggressive load shedding, with power outages in some parts of the country lasting up to 24 to 48 hours. This situation puts immense pressure on the country’s mobile networks, costing operators money and impacting services for mobile customers. Yet, the telecommunications sector remains one of Zimbabwe’s key economic enablers for sustained business growth and social development.
The crippling power outages being experienced across the country have escalated operational costs and compromised the quality of service delivery in the telecommunications sector. The level of power cuts has reached unsustainable levels, threatening the viability of the telecoms sector. Provisional measures to mitigate the impact on service quality and network performance include the use of diesel generators at base stations and solar power to run operations.
Electricity generation has dropped drastically in recent months due to a significant fall in water levels at the Kariba hydro-power station, the main source of power. The situation has been worsened by subdued output at Hwange and other smaller thermal stations due to aging infrastructure. In view of this challenge, it is increasingly difficult and uneconomical for businesses to guarantee quality service to clients, forcing some Zimbabweans to work at night when electricity supply is more reliable than during the day.
Zimbabwe’s power shortage is due to the country producing less than 1,300 MW of electricity, which is less than its peak national demand of about 1,950 MW. According to a 2023 World Bank report, Zimbabwe’s power shortages are estimated to cost the country a total of 6.1 percent of its gross domestic product annually. Medium-term World Bank projections indicate that electricity demand will grow from 1,950 MW in 2022 to 5,177 MW by 2030, driven primarily by increasing demand from the mining sector.
The energy crisis in Africa has forced telcos to come up with solutions to protect infrastructure and provide customers with services. In South Africa, for instance, telcos have been battling blackouts for years as part of deliberate “load shedding” by state-owned power utility Eskom, which began implementing these measures back in 2007. To help mitigate ongoing power blackouts in South Africa, in March 2023, MTN SA invested US$84.3 million toward getting its base stations completely off-grid.
Furthermore, in August 2023, Vodacom SA and Eskom signed a “virtual wheeling agreement” aimed at accelerating efforts to solve the country’s energy crisis. “Wheeling” is a process of moving privately generated power to customers across national government-owned power grids and is gaining traction in South Africa as a way to bridge energy shortfalls.
Vodacom South Africa has spent more than US$214 million since 2020 on backup power solutions. The telco stated that the wheeling agreement played a significant role in moving it closer to its goal of sourcing 100% of its electricity demand from renewable energy sources by 2025.
In Zimbabwe, Econet Wireless, the industry’s market leader, has invested in thousands of diesel generators, deployed at over 80 percent of its base station sites across the country, to mitigate the effects of load shedding and enhance network resilience. Econet has also invested millions of dollars in renewable energy, becoming one of the first African operators to partner with Tesla, through its sister company Distributed Power Africa (DPA), to install long-life lithium batteries on hundreds of its sites.
However, despite these mitigatory efforts, consumers have been left frustrated with dropped calls, low-quality, and interrupted service, as persistent power outages have hampered operators’ ability to provide consistent and reliable service, leading to ballooning costs as operators resort to more expensive power alternatives.
The Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (Potraz) recently raised concerns that escalating power outages could significantly disrupt the country’s telecommunications industry, worsening existing energy challenges and negatively impacting service delivery. In its Postal and Telecommunications Sector Abridged Performance Report for the second quarter of 2024, Potraz noted that although telecom companies are actively investing in high-speed broadband infrastructure, persistent grid power shortages are undermining these efforts.
“The sector may suffer negatively from the ongoing power cuts experienced in the country,” Potraz warned. “Incessant power cuts disrupt service quality for telecom operators, who rely heavily on grid-supplied electricity.” This warning comes amid the government’s introduction of stringent penalties targeting telecom operators that fail to meet quality standards, part of an effort to address service quality issues. Under the new regulatory framework, operators face fines of up to US$5,000 for failing to comply with key performance indicators, such as call quality, data service performance, SMS delivery, and network uptime.
Additionally, each cell tower that falls short of these benchmarks could result in a $200 fine, with penalties escalating for network outages and failure to submit performance data. The penalties are part of a broader government initiative aimed at improving the telecommunications sector, which plays a vital role in Zimbabwe’s economy but faces numerous challenges.
The sector is highly competitive, with major operators offering services ranging from voice and data to cloud solutions and cybersecurity. However, due to macroeconomic environmental challenges – such as forex shortages, legacy debt, and local currency depreciation – many have struggled to maintain viability, let alone maintain good service quality. A major mobile operator recently reported liabilities exceeding assets by ZWL$32 billion, while another operator has been reported as technically insolvent.
To ensure network reliability, the government has set specific benchmarks for telecom operators. These include a minimum Data Service Access Success Rate (DSASR) of 95% and a Data Service Drop Rate (DSDR) below 2%. Additionally, 4G networks must offer downlink speeds of at least 5 Mbps and uplink speeds of 1 Mbps. Telecom providers failing to meet these standards for three consecutive months will be liable to a fine.
