By Alois Vinga

TelOne’s new 10 LTE base stations commissioned this week are set to provide fast and reliable internet connectivity to over 6 000 households in Chitungwiza.

Speaking at an event to officially launch the new service, ICT, Postal and Courier Services Minister, Jensen Muswere said the project which is in line with the government’s digital transformation drive will spur the city’s internet needs.

“The shared 10 base stations will provide 100% coverage and faster network to more than six thousand households here in Chitungwiza.

“Having said that, nowadays we also talk of Smart everything, from Smart Cities to Smart Agriculture. Now that the LTE service is now in Chitungwiza I am certain that from today onwards we will start to experience more smart homes and of course e-learning for our children,” he said.

Also speaking at the occasion, TelOne’s managing director, Chipo Mutasa said the decision to go wireless was prompted by the need to meet rising customers’ demands.

“The demand for high quality home broadband service is increasing intensely and it is key that we continue to invest in improving the network and ultimate service experience of our clients.

“The service that we are launching today is most appropriate at this time where the use of home broadband has at least tripled in just two years,” she said.

The TelOne boss said the service allows clients to connect up to 10 devices on an LTE MiFi modem and up to 32 devices on an indoor modem, bringing convenience to clients who may wish to share the internet with a wider community.

“While the clients will be spending less money on accessing the LTE lines and data packages, they will be able to experience fast and reliable broadband.

“The LTE line will cost just US$ 1 and our current data packages for Blaze start from as little as ZW$1349. This is a service that is geo locked hence sim cards for Chitungwiza can only work here in Chitungwiza. This will help us to be sure that the service is efficient,” she said.