Infrastructure Rush: 327 New Towers And 13 New 5G Sites Deployed In Q1

By Ross Moyo

Zimbabwe’s networks got a major upgrade in the first 3 months of 2026.

MNOs deployed 327 new base stations: 161 LTE, 85 3G, 68 2G, and 13 new 5G sites. Total 5G sites now stand at 379.

Econet accounted for the bulk of new builds with 74 new 2G, 74 new 3G and 126 new LTE sites. NetOne added 35 LTE sites. Telecel stood still.

The result: 18.94% of Zimbabweans are now within 5G coverage, mostly in Harare, Bulawayo and other major towns. In rural areas, 73.8% now have 3G access.

Econet leads infrastructure with 59.1% of all base stations. NetOne has 39.4%.

POTRAZ says this capex surge — up 152% to ZWG 2.73B — is directly tied to handling the 57% year-on-year data traffic growth. Without new towers, networks would collapse under TikTok and Netflix traffic.