By 
By Ross Moyo
Zimbabweans consumed 179.33 Petabytes of mobile data in Q1 2026, an 11.85% increase from 160.33 PB in Q4 2025, POTRAZ has reported. Year-on-year, data traffic is up a massive 57.28%.
The growth was almost entirely driven by Econet, which saw its data traffic surge 20.14% to 156.4B MB. Econet now carries 87.22% of all mobile internet traffic in the country.
Conversely, NetOne lost 23.97% of its data traffic and Telecel dropped 15.98%, pointing to a widening gap in network capacity and customer experience.
POTRAZ says the boom is being fueled by 5G and LTE expansion, cheaper smartphones, and the explosion of video-centric platforms.
A breakdown of usage shows “Other” apps — including TikTok, Instagram, Netflix and general browsing — accounted for 113.9B MB, up 15.59%. WhatsApp grew 10.8% to 36.7B MB. YouTube and Facebook were flat, while X/Twitter usage fell 7.64%.
“Zimbabwe is following the global pattern,” POTRAZ noted. “Data is no longer a luxury. It’s how people work, learn, and are entertained.”
The surge explains why MNOs poured ZWG 2.73B into capital expenditure in the quarter — a 152% jump — to expand capacity.
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