Internet Access Provider (I.A.P) Dandemutande has rolled up its sleeves in their attempt to penetrate the mass market in Zimbabwe, a major shift from their traditional elitist approach as they cast their net wider.
Speaking recently at an event launch in Harare, Dandemutande CEO mr Never Ncube said that they have introduced a new wifi hotspot facility around the nation, aptly dubbed Facebook Wifi.
watch the event launch here https://www.facebook.com/TechnoMagTv/videos/1913556725491171/
This is their partnership with Social media giant Facebook, which provides the application software and content management side of the platform, while they come in to bring the connectivity infrastructure side.
The deal has seen Dandemutand dropping some wifi hotspots and LTE base stations around Harare as they seek to reach both high and low density communities in Zimbabwe.
The biggest cache however is price, as many Zimbabweans are moved on affordability of internet access before they commit to any service provider while reliability is an experience they would rather take after engagement .
Their highest offer of 10g per month is going for $1 325, while a Gig is costing only $132, this is very interesting and highly competitive considering that its way lower than the current mobile data monthly tariffs.
NetOne and Econet monthly data is currently pegged at $2 500 for 10g and $2020 for 8gig respectively.
However the major disadvantage with Dandemutande in this case would be availability of these hotspots, vi sa vi to mobile, they are only going to be stationed physically somewhere ,unless their CPE begin to support GSM quickly.
This simoly means one will need to buy a wireless router as a Customer Premise Equipment, (CPE) as opposed to simply connecting with your already existing mobile phone.
Dandemutande however said that their CPEs are not for sale currently are being given to clients purchasing their data.
This probably then calls for a comparison with other fixed internet service providers, although the Facebook Wifi has mobility effect on all hotspots they are dotting around the country.
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