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Mobile sector revenues declined 3,7 percent  to $161,5 million in the second quarter fuelled by the continued slide in voice traffic.

According to a sector performance report for the quarter to June from the Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe, two of the mobile networks registered declines in the revenues market share while only NetOne registered an increase of 4,7 percent.

As a result, NetOne made up 18,7 percent of the revenue market share at $29,87 million from17 percent of Q1’s $167,7 million. Econet dropped its share to 70,7 percent (or $114,18 million) from 72 percent while Telecel dropped to 10,8 percent from 11 percent in Q1.

According to the report, NetOne gained market share on mobile subscriptions with the sector registering a marginal increase in active            subscribers.

The total number of mobile subscriptions in the country increased by 6,2 percent to reach                                                                                                           20 257 180 from 18 992 082 recorded in the previous quarter.

The number of active lines in the quarter under review was 13 010 873. This represents a 0,9 percent increase from 12 900 173 recorded in the previous quarter.

The mobile penetration rate also increased from 96,5 percent to 97 percent.

Econet total subscribers grew 7,42 percent to 10,02 million but active subscribers were flat at 6,71 million. Telecel active subscribers dropped 2,3 percent to 1,78 million while NetOne was the only operator to register an increase in active users of 3,5 percent to 4,51 million.

NetOne was the only operator to gain market share. Its market share increased to 34,7 percent from 33,8 percent owing to the increase in active subscribers.

Econet’s market share declined by 0,5 percent to reach 51,6 percent from 52,1 percent recorded in the previous quarter.

Telecel also experienced a decline in market share by 0,4 percent to reach 13,7 percent from 14,1 percent recorded in the previous quarter as a result of the decline in active subscribers.

National traffic declined by 3,6 percent despite the numerous mobile voice promotions that were in the market in the second quarter of 2016.

This is partly attributed to the declining consumer demand as the economy experiences the liquidity crunch.

The substitution of mobile voice service with Over-the-Top services also greatly contributed to the overall decline in voice traffic.

In terms of mobile voice traffic market share Econet gained to 67,9 percent from 61,9 percent. NetOne lost to 19,4 percent from 24,8 percent so too did Telecel at 12,7 percent from 13,3 percent.  — Wires.