Econet Wireless Zimbabwe on Friday unveiled nearly 50 new mobile shops that it will immediately roll out across the country as telecommunications giant widens it service delivery channels in a move that is set to enhance its customer experience ahead of the
festive season.
The roll out of new mobile shops, unveiled at a brief ceremony at the company’s head office in Msasa, Harare, comes at a time Econet recently embarked on an audacious programme to upgrade and deploy 130 new LTE (4G) base stations in 90 days leading up to the Christmas period.
At the same ceremony, the company also handed over about 40 brand new vehicles to its regional general managers and their teams, that serve in the company’s 12 commercial regions across the country.
Speaking at the unveiling ceremony, Econet Chief Commercial Officer, Navdeep Kapur, said the rollout of the new mobile shops, which are fully-kitted with high-speed Wifi and powered by solar energy, will help Econet’s millions of customers access the company’s digital services following the deployment of the high-speed 4G network across the country.
“Customers are at the heart of what we do at Econet, and we are always looking for new and additional ways to connect with our customers and to improve their experience on our network,” Kapur said
“Our vision as a company is to create a digital future that leaves no Zimbabwean behind. I believe we are achieving that by providing a seamless digital experience for all our customers. By extending our network and retail services to cover underserved and marginalized areas of the country, we are doing our part in bridging the digital divide.”
He said the one-stop mobile shops will be distributed across the country to give customers easy access to Econet’s products and services.
The deployment of the mobile shops, which is in addition to the company’s over 200 physical shops and franchisees spread across the country, will bring Econet’s customer channel touchpoints to over 250.
Kapur said the 40 vehicles will enable Econet’s regional staff to better serve customers and meet their requirements.
“Our staff will now be better able to sell SIM cards, do SIM replacements, make airtime sales, carry out device and handset sales, as well as resolve any customer queries right where the customers live, without the customers having to travel long distances to come to an Econet shop in town,” he said, adding that all the services would be provided by a well- trained and well qualified staff, with a mandate to offer customers the best service quality.
Meanwhile, speaking at the same event, Ivy Sithole, Econet’s Chief Sales Officer, said the listed mobile network operator had identified a gap in its distribution networks where customers were travelling long distances to access basic services.
“Some of our customers, especially in Masvingo Province, were travelling distances of up to200 kilometres just to access our services. But now I am excited that we have moved to address that challenge and make life much easier for our customers,” she said, reiterating the company’s commitment to provide its services to, all without exclusion.
Econet, Zimbabwe’s largest mobile network operator, recently purchased 150 new vehicles, comprising of single and double cab trucks and 4×4 off-road SUVs for use by its network services staff across the country.
These have already been deployed to improve staff mobility and to help maintain high network quality and reduce downtimes from technical faults.
The company has stepped up its efforts to maintain network stability in the face of the multiple challenges obtaining in its operating environment, such as power cuts and high levels of load shedding, rising fuel prices and the persistent vandalism of network infrastructure equipment at its base station sites spread across the country.