The CEO of Econet Douglas Mboweni reported stronger than expected airtime usage, according to an Itnewsafrica.com report. This has driven monthly turnover significantly above the January and February levels. With the accelerated growth in subscriber numbers, turnover is expected to continue growing, he said.

“Detailed information will be supplied to the market when we release our half year results, but there is a very clear trend that shows that performance has vastly improved since Jan-Feb 2009,” Mboweni said in an update on his company’s operations.

Any valuation of the Company must not ignore its current performance, which is driven mainly by revenue from new subscribers. Econet Wireless now has the capacity to meet demand for new lines, he said. Mboweni said that contract lines were now available on demand, whilst queues for prepaid lines were getting shorter and shorter with some Econet shops no longer having queues.

“Financing is available to the Company to meet any requirement for the foreseeable future,” he said. The Company was able to rely on parent company Econet Wireless Group to secure funding for expansion. “The first phase of the expansion is being funded by the $94million facility approved recently by shareholders, while funding for the next phases was being finalized.”

Mboweni said apart from expanding the network and improving quality, enhancement of the product range would also be a key focus area. Mboweni said focus in the company was shifting to providing new services such as wireless Internet, data services for specialist applications, 3G, and broad band. He said Econet planned to also introduce pre-paid roaming with regional countries, and also data services for high end business users.