By 
Econet Wireless is facing rare and growing public pressure after abruptly altering how its SmartBiz data bundles work—prompting nearly 2,700 users to sign two online petitions in less than a week.
The main grievance? What users say was a stealth rollout of harsh data caps and aggressive speed throttling, under the guise of a revised Fair Usage Policy (FUP). The shift has left many business customers—who rely on the package for daily operations—feeling misled and frustrated.
The larger petition, titled “Econet Wireless: Restore SmartBiz Fair Usage Policy – Reverse Deceptive Data Reduction”, has gathered over 2,300 signatures in just five days. A second petition, which calls on both Econet and telecoms regulator POTRAZ to ensure transparency in service offerings, has crossed 300 signatures.
Together, these petitions represent around 2.7% of Econet’s estimated 100,000 SmartBiz users—a surprisingly high figure for digital protests in Zimbabwe, especially for a paid product. Most online petitions struggle to reach even 1% engagement, making this a signal rather than just social media noise.
What triggered the outcry?
For many subscribers, it was the discovery that their high-speed data service had degraded drastically mid-month—or in some cases, just days after activation. They hadn’t received any notification of changes. Where they once had reliable bandwidth, they now found capped speeds and unusable service levels, with no clear explanation.
While Econet insists that its updated Fair Usage Policy is in line with global standards, the issue for most users is communication—or the lack of it. No formal announcement was made about the shift. And when subscribers turned to customer support for answers, responses were inconsistent at best.
For a business-focused product like SmartBiz, where consistent connectivity is critical, this kind of disruption isn’t just an inconvenience. It means lost sales, missed client calls, and operational delays.
There’s also a broader infrastructure problem behind the scenes. Sources suggest SmartBiz was oversubscribed—Econet’s network couldn’t handle the volume of users buying into the package. But instead of pausing new signups or scaling capacity, the provider responded by limiting usage through hidden restrictions.
This has sparked comparisons to Starlink, which earlier this year had to suspend new residential signups in Zimbabwe due to overwhelming demand. It’s becoming a common thread: rising internet usage is outpacing what networks can support.
But what’s different here is how customers are choosing to fight back. Zimbabweans often voice frustrations with telecom providers on Twitter or in private chats. Going to Change.org—and putting names on public petitions—is a step further. It suggests people feel cornered, and that regulatory protection has failed them.
That’s why the other petition is addressed not only to Econet, but to POTRAZ. Petitioners are asking the regulator to enforce transparency: if a bundle has limits, those limits should be clearly stated before purchase—not quietly implemented after.
Whether these efforts lead to any official action remains to be seen. Econet is unlikely to reverse policy based on a few thousand signatures. But the petitions matter for what they reveal:
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That Econet’s paying business customers are angry enough to go public.
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That confidence in telecoms regulation is eroding.
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And that Zimbabwe’s connectivity demand continues to exceed what providers can realistically offer.
This moment may not shift policy overnight. But it raises a loud and timely question: in a country hungry for digital growth, who is ensuring that users aren’t being left behind?
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