Efforts to get comment from Econet over the past week have been fruitless.

The lack of explanation and non-improvement in services has left subscribers fuming.

"Whenever I intend to make a call, one of two things happens -- either the call connects and rings, but there will be no one at the other end and it will be charging, or the call is answered by someone whose number I did not dial. "What is happening?" asked an Econet subscriber who requested anonymity.

Mr Kuda Makoni, who runs a restaurant in Harare, added: "I always experience cross-line connection when I am in Chegutu.

"My phone rings, when I answer, I hear two people having a conversation."

A marketing executive in Bindura said: "I get cross-lines most times I dial from a landline or to a landline.
"Sometimes a message is registered as delivered, but without reaching the intended recipient, or a failed message is never refunded."

Of 20 Econet subscribers interviewed, only two said they were not experiencing serious connectivity problems.
Econet has been aggressively marketing the expansion of its network and claims to have more than four million subscribers.