Zimbabwe’s postal and telecommunications sector recorded strong growth in the first quarter of 2026, with mobile subscriptions, internet usage and broadband infrastructure expanding as demand for data services continued to rise, according to post-Cabinet notes released Tuesday.
The post-Cabinet notes said active mobile subscriptions increased by 2.99%, while mobile penetration rose by 1.5% during the quarter.
“The Postal and Telecommunications sector recorded notable growth in the first quarter, with active mobile subscriptions rising by 2.99% and mobile penetration increasing by 1.5%. Internet/data traffic surged by 57.28%, driven by LTE and 5G expansion, smartphone adoption, and popular applications such as TikTok, Instagram, and Netflix,” the post-Cabinet notes said.
The notes said infrastructure modernization continued during the quarter with 13 new 5G base stations commissioned, bringing the national total to 379, alongside additional LTE, 3G and 2G sites.
They said the sector continued its gradual shift toward data-centric services while fixed-line subscriptions remained largely stable.
The post-Cabinet notes added that international bandwidth capacity increased by 4.03% to 1,756,770 Mbps, while the fibre network expanded from 4,046 kilometers to 8,500 kilometers.
Zimbabwe’s total fibre backbone now exceeds 19,000 kilometers, representing a 33.83% increase, according to the post-Cabinet notes.
