Harare — MOBILE phone operator NetOne has increased its subscriber capacity to five million and has warned competitors that it is on course to regain market leadership when it completes its network expansion programme.

Managing director Mr Reward Kangai said the operator, which had about 1,2 million subscriber capacity and only half a million subscribers, has over the past few months been concentrating on putting up more infrastructure.

He derided Econet Wireless Zimbabwe and Telecel saying millions of NetOne subscribers awaited an "opportunity to lay their hands on the golden 011 line despite the recent proliferation of lines from other providers with undeveloped networks".

Massive investment has gone into the expansion of NetOne's network and the operator would soon switch on more than 30 new solar-powered base stations in western parts of the country, which would greatly ease congestion.

"To reaffirm our commitment to a clean environment, most of the base stations being installed in this expansion drive are solar energy-powered and this reduces service disruptions arising from erratic power supplies. Switching capacity has also been greatly increased to accommodate five million subscribers," said Mr Kangai.

He said the prepaid (easy call extra) platform's carrying capacity had been upgraded to accommodate 3 million subscribers from 1 million subscribers while the short message service capacity was ramped up to 154 SMS per second from 84 SMS per second to enhance message processing efficiency.

NetOne, presently the smallest of the country's three mobile network operators, could regain top spot in the industry riding on the financial strength of prospective investor, MTN of South Africa, seeking a stake in the firm.

The two firms are in negotiations, which might result in MTN acquiring a maximum of 49 percent in NetOne and also sink in about US$600 million in fresh capital in a move that would tremendously enhance NetOne's operations.

Sources privy to developments told Herald Business negotiations could be completed soon.

MTN and NetOne late last year signed a memorandum of non-disclosure on the ongoing negotiations, the reason why the two have kept negotiations secretive. The pact forbids the parties from disclosing information on the deal to third parties without the "express consent" of the other.

MTN, with a R202 billion market capitalisation, has over the last seven years been rated among the top 20 firms listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.

On its part, NetOne has been dwarfed by the massive expansion of competitors Econet, with just over 3 million subscribers and Telecel with about 650 000 subscribers.

This could, however, soon be a thing of the past after the mobile phone operator told a parliamentary portfolio committee it was working towards tripling its subscriber base to 1,6 million after getting funding to expand the network.

In a sustained bid to reclaim top spot in the mobile phone service industry the firm continues to develop innovative products for its subscribers and only last Friday unveiled a new bouquet of sms based value added services, OneXtra.

The service allows subscribers to play lotto using cellphones, get confirmation of their participation and obtain results on the phones, among others.

"OneXtra is a bouquet of SMS-based valued added services from NetOne to get you even closer to your world. The services, as the name suggests, offer one extra value to the customer by enabling them to live life through the touch of a few buttons on their 011 cellphone," said Mr Kangai.

The service is a result of partnerships with Gemalto, Afrosoft, FBC Bank, Mashonaland Turf Club, Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation, municipalities, medical aid societies, universities and colleges, the Zimbabwe Meteorological Services and the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange among others.

The service also enables NetOne subscribers to participate in various ZBC programmes, get movie schedule updates, access information on college timetables, get ZSE and weather updates, commodity prices and sms broadcasts from utilities and municipalities among a host of other essential services, already offered.