Some Econet customers are still having issues making calls and accessing USSD services such as Ecocash according to reports on social media. The network challenges started yesterday with some speculating this was a deliberate attempt to frustrate 31 July protests that some activists have been calling for. This however appears to be baseless speculation as there is no evidence this is the case and Econet themselves have said they are investigating the cause.

NetOne and Telecel don’t appear to be having an issues further pouring water on the deliberate shutdown theory. In anycase, the authorities would be more interested in disrupting social media communication as they have done in times past rather than calls. As the statement from Econet shows data and SMS are working. It would make no sense for the government to shutdown calls and leave this up.

Dear Valued Customer
We regret to inform you that we are currently experiencing a technical challenge that has affected some voice calls. As a result, some of our customers are failing to initiate calls. However, services such as data, SMS and EcoCash are working well.
Our technical teams are working to resolve the issue and we will inform you once it has been resolved.
We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience caused.
Econet Wireless
inspired to change your world
ECONET
Econet’s message to customers on the issue

This is not the first time Econet has experienced issues. The telecom giant’s national services have gone down twice on separate occasions. These were blamed on central computers that manage access to the network. Again there is no evidence or word from Zimbabwe’s largest mobile network operator that this is the case.