TelOne’s $98 million project nears completion
STATE-owned telecommunications company, TelOne, is changing all area codes and modifying telephone numbers as the implementation of the $98 million national broadband project nears completion.
In a statement yesterday, TelOne said the area codes have been reduced from 195 to just 20 in line with the International Telecommunication Union regulations.
“The 20 area codes means that some areas that previously had their own area codes are now sharing the same area code,” said the firm.
“For example, Ruwa whose area code was 0273, Norton 062, Arcturus 0274, Beatrice 065 and Chitungwiza 0270 are all now sharing the same area code with Harare, which is 024.”
TelOne said all the telephone numbers have also been modified and have different prefixes that have been added to the old numbers. The national broadband project, which is 95 percent complete, has modernised TelOne exchanges and part of the network bringing with it a convergence of services, said the company. Network convergence means that clients can now enjoy a variety of services on the new platform.
“It means clients now need a single account to enjoy both their broadband and voice as well as wifi away from home.
“On this same platform, clients can also enjoy internet TV, toll free service, pre-paid voice as well as video and teleconferencing,” said TelOne.
The national broadband project has also seen the implementation of the Harare-Beitbridge and BulawayoBeitbridge Backbone Fibre, which has resulted in about 30 percent cut in internet bandwidth landing costs, which has been passed on to TelOne clients who will now enjoy more from their packages.