From Business Day Live

Mobile wars are heating up in Zimbabwe, with Econet Wireless, which has since reconnected with rival Telecel Zimbabwe, now refusing to allow mobile money transfers under its EcoCash product to subscribers on other networks.

The state telecommunications sector regulator, the Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (Potraz), reportedly had to order Econet to reconnect with Telecel Zimbabwe. Econet terminated interconnection with Telecel in July, citing license obligations, but Potraz has since renewed Telecel’s operating license.

However, mobile operators in Zimbabwe remain locked in a bitter price war. Moreover, Econet has said that its network users will no longer be able to send money through its EcoCash mobile money service to recipients on other networks.

EcoCash has more than 2-million registered users and Telecel is planning to reintroduce its own mobile money transfer service, Skwama. NetOne already runs its own mobile payments platform, although it has had a less remarkable effect compared with EcoCash.

On Wednesday, Econet sent the following text message to its subscribers: “Dear EcoCash Customer. Kindly note that you can only send money to Econet numbers until further notice.”

On Friday morning, Econet announced in a news release that it had cut tariffs for calls to other networks by 60%. Analysts and industry experts said this was in response to promotions being offered by Telecel and NetOne. The two operators are offering no less than 100% bonus talk-time on top-ups.

“Interestingly, it’s the consumer who now has the power as their flexibility, especially in the Zimbabwean context to switch between operators, is forcing the mobile companies to offer promotions and discounts,” said economic analyst Jeffrey Kasirori.

On Friday morning, Econet CEO Douglas Mboweni said: “Our tariffs are unconditional and we do not ask you to buy something extra or spend so much to get something.”

Read more at Business Day Live.