Have you been wondering about Telkom Mobile roaming in Zimbabwe? Can you use your Telkom mobile SIM card in Zimbabwe? If yes, what are the roaming charges? Telkom is used by millions of people in South Africa. Many of these are Zimbabweans living and working here. With the holidays approaching, many of them will be looking to visit their home country. The question is, can they stay in touch using their Telkom South Africa numbers while in Zimbabwe?
Does Telkom Work in Zimbabwe?
The first question that we need to ask is, does Telkom work in Zimbabwe? The answer is yes, Telkom works very well in Zimbabwe. All that you need to do is to ensure that your phone is on roaming.
What are the main mobile networks in Zimbabwe?
For those who may not be familiar with Zimbabwe, it’s worth noting that there are three major mobile network operators in the country. These are Econet, NetOne and Telecel. In terms of size, Econet is by far the largest MNO. On second position is NetOne, followed by Telecel.
Telkom mobile roaming tariffs Zimbabwe
The following are the Telkom mobile roaming Zimbabwe tariffs;
| NETWORK | LOCAL CALLS | CALL SA | RECEIVE CALLS | SMS | DATA/MB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Econet | R 50 | R 100 | R 0.00 | R10 | R 300 |
| Telecel | R 10 | R 10 | R 0.00 | R 2 | R 2 |
| Netone | R 15 | R 20 | R 0.00 | R2 | R 5 |
As you can see in the above table, the amount that you are going to end up paying depends on the mobile operator on which you are roaming while in Zimbabwe. This is important information. If you roam on the most expensive operator, you will pay dearly.
In terms of charges, Econet is clearly the most expensive of the lot. That’s a pity because Econet is actually Zimbabwe’s most reliable mobile network. But if you roam with them using your Telkom mobile South Africa SIM card, you will have to be ready to pay some eye watering amounts.
For calling locally, as an example, you get charged R50 per minute. Compare that with the R10 per minute that you pay while roaming on Telecel and the R15 per minute that you pay should you be roaming on Netone for calls that are made within Zimbabwe from your Telkom South Africa phone.
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In terms of calling South Africa while roaming in Zimbabwe using your Telkom SIM, Econet is also the most expensive at R100. The good news is that you don’t have to pay anything when you receive calls while roaming on Telkom mobile in Zimbabwe.
That’s a departure from the norm. On Vodacom and MTN, you get charged for both incoming and outgoing calls when roaming in Zimbabwe. However, that is not the case with Telkom, making it probably the best South African mobile network operators for roaming in Zimbabwe.
Regarding SMSes, you get charged R2 when you send one from your Telkom mobile phone while roaming in Zimbabwe. Econet will charge you R10. When it comes to data charges, Econet charges R300 per megabyte. But before you flee, it’s worth noting that Telecel charges R2 per megabyte while NetOne charges R5 per megabyte.
Choose the least expensive operator for Telkom mobile roaming Zimbabwe
In general, roaming is very expensive. There can be no doubt about that. It’s not something that you should do on a whim or if you are going to be staying in Zimbabwe or any other country for long.
If you plan for an extended visit, you will be better off getting a local SIM. Otherwise you are going to end up having to cover exorbitant charges.
The good thing is that you can easily choose the network operation on which to roam your Telkom mobile SIM while in Zimbabwe. Based on the above, Telecel is the best Telkom roaming partner. So, you need to go for this, save in areas where network coverage is sparse. To manually choose a network operator on Android, you need to do the following;
- Open Settings on your Android phone
- Next, got to Connections
- From there, click on Cellular/mobile networks
- You now need to choose Network operators
- Choose the option Select Manually
- Choose your preferred operator.
Summary
The above steps may be slightly different depending on the version of Android that you have. But you shouldn’t have that many difficulties. Android is android after all and all the changes are rather cosmetic.
Anyway, that’s all about Telkom mobile roaming in Zimbabwe. In this article we set things straight for those wondering whether or not their Telkom mobile South Africa SIM cards will work in Zimbabwe.
We also covered the issue of roaming charges, which is important for most people. If you have further contributions, join our Telkom Discussions Forum today. You can also post your comment in the appropriate section below.