By Tovin Ngombe:-
Sinazongwe residents have complained that the MTN Tower that was mounted in the district was failing to save any purpose because the coverage was too limited and situated in an area where there are few people.
Tundu Kaonga a resident in Sinazongwe said people thought they would have MTN through out the district when the lines where opened up and rushed into buying Sim-Packs but they have packed them.
Kaonga who is also the District Senior Agriculture officer and among the first people to buy the Sim-pack said he has reverted to celtel.
“You see its disappointing to be removing the sim card every after 35 Km, you know these phones there is also wear and tear you can’t be removing sim cards every time. This tower they have mounted will be a white elephant here,†Kaonga said.
ATfellow Siachinga a business man said MTN Scratch card sales were pathetic, dealers travel all the way from Sinazongwe to Choma to order the cards which in most cases were also in short supply.
Siachiinga said he appreciated MTN’s bringing the service to the district but for the sake of their business they should pace up.
He said Celtel who are their competitors managed to set up towers in Maamba, Siansowa, Sinazeze, and Sinazongwe Boma almost at the same time but MTN has taken time to complete their work.
MNT Public Relations Manager Linda Mafunko said in a telephone Interview that the setting up of the tower was being conducted in phases without giving any time frame to their customers on when they would reach Maamba, Sinazeze, and Siansowa.
Mafunko said MTN was having presence in most of the districts through out the country adding “we are now having 96.7 percent of coverage country wide.â€
She said the Sinazongwe tower was only covering the distance of 35Km.
Places like Sinazongwe need particular attention.For one to work in a place where social facilities are non existent is not a joke.A place where there is no ZNBC TV reception apart from certain pockets where television Zimbabwe is shown.The nearest bank is 45Km away, Maamba. The nearest town is over 110km away, Choma. Working in that valley is like being in prison.Temperatutres rise to above 40 degrees celcius in the hot season.Meanwhile, if social facilities were available, Sinazongwe will be another heaven on earth with that huge mass of water which remains untapped.A few guys who are in tourism and hospitality business have shown the potential that Sinazongwe can offer.With a number of tourists flocking to Sianzongwe now after tables have been turned round in zimbabwe is really an ideal time for telecommunication companies to take an advantage of the situation. Please MTN spread out your wings and engulf the district within your tentacles. Give the people what they want. marketing