A new data operator has vowed to not only challenge TelOne, but also join the war for the hearts and minds of subscribers in Zimbabwe.

Chemist Siziba, the Broadlands Networks chairman, is a man with a dream: to ensure that everyone is connected to the network.

Broadlands was last year issued with a Public Data Communication Services (PDS) licence by the Postal and Telecommunication Regulatory Authority (POTRAZ).

The licence allows the company to provide data and voice (both mobile and fixed phone services).

Effectively this means that Broadlands will be the fourth mobile operator and the second fixed operator.

Broadlands will also rub shoulders with a number of established internet service providers as the licence also allows it to venture into the market that is starved of the service.

Yet despite the competition, Broadlands believes the targeted market is its trump card.

"This is a must application of technology for the poorest of the poor and the charges are less," said Siziba who used to own Cosmos Cellular, a marketing agent for NetOne.

"We think we are different. Whether they will compete, we believe we want to set the standards," he said.

"The standard is that it must be a mass broadband operator.

"We want to change the whole dimension to provide broadband to the masses and they will afford it."

The charges are modest. One pays US$120 and gets a phone, which one can use for the whole year.

The phone connects to anywhere in the world where there is a fixed line, according to Siziba.

Siziba is confident they will cover the whole country.

"There is no blade of grass that we will not cover in January."

Data was rolled out in September and so far they have signed up 50 000 subscribers.

But why the delay in giving people the good news?

"We were under the radar until we had sufficient strength to supply the people and sufficient subscriber base to fight off competition," he said.

Siziba says at least US$20 million had been injected into the project.

It is a huge amount one cannot get locally from the bank or across the borders because of Zimbabwe's risk factor.

Siziba said the Zimbabwe project was financed from money obtained from similar operations in seven other African countries -- South Africa; Botswana; Namibia, Malawi, Gabon, Zambia and Democratic Republic of Congo.

Negotiations are underway to buy out an operator in Tanzania, he said adding that the operations are controlled at one network operation centre.

The centre is based in South Africa but will relocate to Zimbabwe.

Siziba said voice would be launched in January.

He says they will print 10 million sim cards that will be sold "for next to nothing".

The idea is that "everyone has a phone (sim card) in the wallet looking for a docking station", according to Siziba.

At least 20 000 point of sales which doubles as a wireless phones would be established.

Subscribers can go to the point of sales, insert their sim cards and make calls.

For subscribers, the entry of a new player means increased competition and an improvement in both the price and quality of the service.

Over the past two months, mobile operators were introducing bonus airtime to subscribers cushioned by the use of multiple currencies early this year, which made foreign currency available for expansions.

The availability of foreign currency has resulted in expansions in areas previously ignored such as rural areas as part of the information and communication technology (ICT) revolution.

Information and Communication Technology Minister, Nelson Chamisa, said competition was to the advantage of the customers and even operators in terms of quality of service and innovation.

He said in the past eight months service has improved and there was deployment of infrastructure to rural areas as part of the Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) revolution.

The inclusive government wants to make ICTs the last bridge between the rich and poor, according to Nelson Chamisa, Information and Communication Technologies minister.

Zimbabwe has 2.5 fixed lines per 100 inhabitants, 6.5 mobile lines per 100 and less than 9.5 internet users per 100 meaning that the country is ranked below all the Sadc countries except the Democratic Republic of Congo, according to the Global Information Technology Report 2008-2009.

Analysts say the figures could have improved for the better if Zimbabwe had not suffered a decade of economic decline.