Business Reporter
Mobile network operator, NetOne, is yet to be granted Government approval to engage strategic partners to boost its operations, The Sunday Mail Business can exclusively reveal.

In a wide-ranging interview with this newspaper, NetOne managing director Mr Reward Kangai revealed that the company had submitted recommendations on its proposed partnership deals to the Government.
“I would say that NetOne is sitting on a gold mine on one hand and it is also sitting on a knife-edge. If certain decisions are made quickly and timely the future of the company is guaranteed to be very prosperous. Decisions have to be taken quickly,” he said.

“The issue of a strategic partner is also of paramount importance. If properly supported, the company will assist in economic development
“We have made recommendations and it has been said over and over again that the best way to move is to get a strategic partner who has got huge capital access.

“Government is huge and is like a ship, if you want to turn it, it takes time, because it is doing the process of consultation. We have put our case and we are hopeful a decision will be made soon. While this is happening, we are trying to make sure that we are not left far behind.”
Mr Kangai noted that the approval would boost revenue inflows for the company as the company is targeting to have over three million subscribers by year end.

“We are growing and we are really excited about it. During the last week, we added more than 200 000 subscribers due to the promotion our company launched recently. Revenues are also now increasing.
“We are in the process of addressing network congestion. We have over 1, 7 million active subscribers and the promotion I talked about has generated over 200 000 more and this figure is still growing. By active subscribers we mean customers who would have done an activity that results in revenue generation such as making a voice call or sending a text message.

“We are aiming towards reaching a 3 million subscriber base by end of this year and, given what has happened so far, and the plans we have in terms of expanding the network, we are very confident of achieving our goal.”