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Darlington Mandivenga

Charity Ruzvidzo Business Reporter
TELECOMMUNICATIONS giant Econet Wireless yesterday launched a new vehicle tracking system called Econet Connected Car as part of its “connected lifestyles” campaign.
Econet Connected Car is basically a vehicle tracking system through an Econet subscriber’s mobile phone or tablet device.

The product allows users a tracking system with various features such as fleet management, live tracking, reports, multiple driver identification, a mobile app, roaming, a point of interest identifier, a panic button, vehicle recovery and SMS and email alerts.

Launching the product, Econet Services Limited chief executive Darlington Mandivenga said the company was now shifting attention to connecting all aspects of people’s lifestyles, starting with their cars.

“This is the first from a very wide range of products that we will offer our customers under what we call connected lifestyles,” he said.

“Through the range of connected lifestyles products, Econet Services is offering customers an unparalleled, personal, effortless and instant ability to remote control, monitor, manage, protect and maintain their various assets.”

The Econet Connected Car takes fleet management services to another level with services such as the Connected Car Mobile application, which can be downloaded from Google Play or the Apple store.

With Econet Connected Car, the car performs regular self-diagnosis and reports to its owner, a service the operator calls the “personal vehicle management service,” which also offers services such as geo fencing and driver habit monitoring.

Dorothy Zimuto, chief operating officer for Econet Connected Car, said their objective was to ensure most of the over 1.2 million cars in Zimbabwe were connected within a few months.

“We’ve invested in the necessary infrastructure to deliver this service efficiently with over 100 installers specifically trained for the Econet Connected Car, ready to offer unparalleled installation,” Zimuto said.

With a once off installation fee of $100 per car and only $20 monthly service fee, the Econet Connected Car is bound to disrupt the vehicle management solutions industry in the same way EcoCash did to financial services.