Zimbabwe looks to raise US$173 million from 4G spectrum award

Zimbabwe’s government is looking to auction off 4G licences later this year, with the aim of raising at least US$173 million from the country’s three mobile networks.

The government has set the target to be raised as the cost of the digital migration programme, which will see the spectrum released by television broadcasters. That project is due to be completed by next June.

Network operators Econet Wireless, NetOne, and Telecel are already testing LTE-based services, and Econet ran a small test network for a UN conference held last year on the border with Zambia.

NetOne has also signed a network upgrade contract with Huawei, which also aims to build LTE cell towers.