TELECEL ZIMBABWE is offering its subscribers substantial bonus airtime to encourage reactivation of lines that have been inactive for more than two months

The development has also resulted in frenzied buying of Telecel sim cards due to the huge bonus airtime also given when subscribers recharge their phones.

Telecel has over the last three years invested incrementally in network and service expansion bringing in several exciting value-added benefits for its customers.

"SIM cards that have been inactive for 60 days or more would be credited with an instant free one dollar airtime, if a line is reactivated between now and July 31," said Telecel in a statement issued yesterday.

Once the line has been re-activated, subscribers will also receive bonus airtime of twice the value of the airtime they would have used to recharge.

Whenever subscribers recharge their phones during the three months that the promotion will be running, they will receive double the value of airtime they recharge. But the BabyJuice recharge card is excluded from this promotion.

Reactivation is only possible, however, if the line is fully registered. In the event that subscribers have lost their SIM cards but want to reactivate their numbers, they will have to visit their nearest Telecel office for assistance. Mobile phone users yesterday expressed gratitude at the impact Telecel has had in ensuring affordability of mobile phone usage and cost of acquiring SIM cards. They said it was worth it to have at least a Telecel line.

"I think it's high time that people either switch to use of Telecel lines or at least have it as their second SIM card because of the benefits it gives.

"Imagine recharging for US$1 and getting double bonus airtime," said Lincoln Kavhu.

Many subscribers had allowed their lines to become inactive when the registration of mobile phone lines became compulsory, at the direction of the Postal and

Telecommunications Regulatory Authority, sometime last year. Those who failed to beat the Potraz deadline had their lines disconnected.

The country's second biggest mobile phone operator, after Econet Zimbabwe, said that additional free bonus airtime received would only be used for Telecel to Telecel calls and remains valid for a period of seven days.

The promotion to encourage the re-activation of inactive mobile phone lines comes after Telecel had announced that the number of active subscribers on its network had reached more than 2 million as at the end of June 2012.

The airtime bonus given by Telecel is sure to woo most subscribers on other networks seeking to benefit from the firm's generous airtime credits.

There has over the last few years been the general conception that local mobile phone charges were a bit on the high side and additional free airtime bonus given by Telecel will come as a big incentive for subscribers.

The rapid growth in the rate of mobile penetration in the country will help support economic growth. The World Bank contends that a 10 percent penetration results in at least 1 percent rise in Gross Domestic Product.

Zimbabwe could benefit from faster mobile phone penetration. The country's penetration, according to Potraz, surpassed the 80 percent mark at the end of March this year.