The Sunday News
Mthabisi Tshuma and Gibson Mhaka
MOBILE telecommunications giant NetOne has introduced a promotion for its OneMoney customers that will see parents that pay their children’s school fees of up to $350 using the mobile platform being refunded in full the fees they would have paid.
The promotion dubbed OneMoney Fees for Less which started on 22 April, will run until 30 May and will see parents getting 100 percent fees back into their OneMoney wallets for school fees paid.
Speaking to Sunday News at the company’s stand at the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair that ended in Bulawayo yesterday, NetOne Mobile Financial Services (MFS) brand manager Mr Dennis Chagonda said they were confident that the promotion would change the face of NetOne as one of the mobile telecommunications giant.
“As OneMoney we are a brand that has a vision to create better and happier everyday lives to millions of Zimbabweans and beyond. We recognise that paying fees currently is quite a pain to ordinary parents who are striving to send their children to school every term.
“So as a brand with a purpose and as an enabler we are saying to all parents pay your school fees of up to $350 using OneMoney and get 100 percent back into your wallets. What it means is that a parent who pays school fees of up to $350 using OneMoney will get it all back. This applies for the first 100 parents. But those who miss the first 100, they can still stand a chance to win $100 in fortnightly vouchers. After every two weeks 20 parents will win $100 each as a reward or token for trusting us by paying their school fees using OneMoney,” said Mr Chagonda.
He said the promotion also rewards schools that sign up to receive fees payments via OneMoney.
“The first 50 schools that sign up to receive school fees payments via OneMoney will get $500 into their accounts. What it means is that if a school is among the first 50 and received payments of $1 000 or more it will get $500 for school development. Then there is a grand prize for the school that has the highest payments worth $5 000 or more and will get a computer lab, generator, free WiFi and an internet device,” said Mr Chagonda.
Meanwhile, the company says it has poured $71 million to acquire equipment meant to boost efficiency and increase coverage across the country.
NetOne chief executive officer Mr Lazarus Muchenje said this was a way of increasing its market share.
“For the past weeks since I got into office, we have engaged our clients and partners who have indicated the need for us to spread our wings and we have taken that as one of our priorities. We now have a plan where we are going to utilise the $71 million project to increase our coverage. We want to reach every corner of the country, mostly the rural areas and become the service provider with the widest coverage in the country.”
The telecommunications firm is also in the process of partnering with its sister companies that include Zimpost to set up fully equipped offices for the efficiency of its services.
NetOne installed close to 1 000 base stations in 2016. The additional infrastructure is expected to give NetOne the capacity to connect over 10 million subscribers at a time.
