Dolphin Telecoms is launching a Mobile Virtual Network Operator in South Africa. The launch is on the 5th of August so all is set. Unlike other MVNOs in SA (like FNB Connect, Standard Bank Mobile) Dolphin has a unique target market: the estimated 2 million Zimbabweans in South Africa. But like those MVNOs financial services […] The post Dolphin Introduces MVNO in South Africa Targeting Zimbabwe Diaspora Market appeared first on Techzim .
Dolphin Telecoms is launching a Mobile Virtual Network Operator in South Africa. The launch is on the 5th of August so all is set. Unlike other MVNOs in SA (like FNB Connect, Standard Bank Mobile) Dolphin has a unique target market: the estimated 2 million Zimbabweans in South Africa.
But like those MVNOs financial services is part of the play. Dolphin Technologies Group (the mother company running the two country operations) is planning to launch a wallet called Dolphin Pay in the not too distant future. And if wallet and the diaspora has you thinking Mukuru competitor, you’re about right. The executives we met did talk about the remittances market that Mukuru dominates as one they would like to play in.
Back to the MVNO play, Dolphin is launching the MVNO on Cell C and it’s coming with these packages:
I’ve never stayed in SA and I don’t frequent the country, so read my reading of all this with that in mind. That said the bit of research on prices I’ve done suggests these are ordinary prices in SA. R99 for 10GB is about R9.90/GB. For comparison, MTN’s monthly 10GB sits around R149, but MTN’s best cost-per-GB is about R5.98.
But I don’t think cheaper is the play here. From a discussion with an executive at Dolphin, they’re targeting the frequent traveller to SA especially with that 90-day Unlimited WhatsApp communications package. You go in and out of SA without needing to worry about buying data for comms. You might still need to buy data for Uber, but at least you’re on WhatsApp.
But then, the bit of research suggests 90 days is the standard SA period for SIM expiry, and that large airtime recharges don’t expire. In addition, MTN South Africa has this service called MTN Access 4Life which seems targeted at the same diaspora market. With that service, you recharge your MTN line with enough for them to deduct R5 every 90 days and that way you can keep your SIM even if you don’t use it. As long as there’s enough money for them to deduct and extend its life (Losing your number is a big problem for many even in Zimbabwe so I hope the people at Econet are reading this).
So if this number deactivation and unlimited WhatsApp is not the product, what is? As crazy as it sounds, it might actually be marketing. No one knows about the MTN Access4Life thing. It may be directed at the diaspora but do the executives at MTN care about that market? Do they make them aware? I didn’t even know about the service before Claude researched it for me.
And you know what else suggests a marketing play might work? The executive team there. The Dolphin Managing Director is Nyasha Charumbira, whose LinkedIn says is an ex-Liquid Telecom executive. A number of senior team have some Econet employment history. And if you know Econet, then you’d know they market like crazy. “Another first” will get you trying a service.
But also, these are guys who understand telecoms, and mobile money wallets too. Could the stronger play actually be the fintech? Could the MVNO just be a foundation for it? The numbers say the South Africa – Zimbabwe corridor is a $750 million remittances market, and that’s just the official channels. Bus drivers and and the various Hawala types are excluded.
A joint IMF-World Bank diagnostic found sending US$200 from South Africa to Zimbabwe cost 12.7% in early 2024, against a global target of 3%. That’s quite some inefficiency Dolphin could attack to help Zimbabweans send money cheaper. And who knows crypto regulation is on the horizon here in Zimbabwe and it could provide the tools for some of this innovation. In Zimbabwe, Dolphin is a licensed Money Transfer Operator.
Solving problems aside, found it quite interesting that 4 years after licensing in Zimbabwe, Dolphin is yet to launch a proper MVNO in the country. You still can’t buy a Dtel phone number or port your number to their ‘network’. The Dtel services you see in Zim are just the LTE Internet Service Provider aspect of it. In South Africa we hear that Dolphin is now a registered MVNO, and shortly after, they’re launching services! Not a good picture for POTRAZ.
South Africa has a wholesale layer built for the MVNO industry and ICASA (their POTRAZ) made hosting three MVNOs each a condition of the 2022 licenses for spectrum. South Africa has some 23 active MVNOs now. Zimbabwe has no wholesale layer and no regulation forcing one. A player like Econet has no reason on earth to sell capacity to a competitor. Their incentives are, I’m guessing, to the extent of entrants becoming Econet franchise shops!
The post Dolphin Introduces MVNO in South Africa Targeting Zimbabwe Diaspora Market appeared first on Techzim.
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