COUNTRY FOCUS: ZIMBABWE
“
ALREADY THERE
IS A DEFINITE
MOVE TOWARDS
EMBRACING IOT
AND ITS REVENUE
POTENTIAL IN
ALL SECTORS
INCLUDING
TRANSPORTATION,
MANUFACTURING,
MINING AND
AGRICULTURE.
Going forward, we can expect to see more
active participation in connecting rural
communities through deployment of VSAT
solutions either through government-related
initiatives and direct to market solutions,
particularly in the education, mining and
agricultural sectors. As further investment
becomes available there will be even more
opportunities for providers to play a key role
in connecting rural communities to aid in
economic growth in Zimbabwe.
While the country certainly has its challenges
to overcome, there is definite interest in the
opportunities technology can create to grow
Zimbabwe’s foothold in a globally connected
economy and this includes IoT and fibre.
While Zimbabwe’s depressed economy
has possibly limited the uptake of IoT to
date, it is clear that there is no way any
economy can avoid it, so we expect greater
developments in the coming years on IoT.
Already there is a definite move towards
embracing IoT and its revenue potential
in all sectors including transportation,
manufacturing, mining and agriculture. One
of the first sectors to drive the uptake of IoT
are security-based solutions, such as vehicle
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INTELLIGENTCIO
tracking systems and household surveillance.
There is also increased interest and uptake
in RFID and satellite tracking solutions,
advanced CCTV video analytics, telemetry
and building management systems.
At present, fibre deployment has been
limited to the main urban centres such as
Harare and Bulawayo, however the demand
for infrastructure and a country wide network
has caused growth beyond non-traditional
areas. A major thrust of POTRAZ is the
sharing of infrastructure among licensed
providers in order to enhance the fibre
footprint in Zimbabwe. Providers that
embrace this strategy and take further steps
to deploy their own fibre are far more likely
to enjoy a greater share in what will be a
growing market for some time to come.
Overall, the new growth trajectory for
Zimbabwe will allow first-rate service
providers to increase their local and regional
footprint through the provision of quality
connectivity products that support large
corporate and business customers while also
being conscious of new opportunities in a
burgeoning SME sector looking towards a
brighter Zimbabwean future. n
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