SmartBiz: Distinguished Innovation's Potential Slip-up
Econet's SmartBiz Data Package Undergoes Significant Changes
Econet's popular $45 SmartBiz "unlimited" data package, launched in June 2024, has undergone a significant change that has left many customers disgruntled. The package, originally advertised with a 1TB fair usage policy (FUP) soft cap at 5 Mbps speeds, has seen its soft cap reduced to 200GB without any customer notification or updated advertising transparency.
This reduction, implemented in July 2025, has had a significant impact on small businesses and users reliant on stable connections. Once the undisclosed 200GB limit is reached, speeds degrade severely, often dropping as low as 100 Kbps, with unstable connections and frequent dropouts. Despite these issues, Econet continues to market the package as having a 1TB cap, leading to accusations of misleading advertising.
The surge in demand for SmartBiz exposed a basic flaw in the product design, making it unsustainable for some customers. It appears the product was designed based on historical data from capped bundles like Private WiFi, with the assumption that no one would reach 1TB and network performance wouldn't be significantly affected. However, this assumption did not hold, as Zimbabwean users consumed large amounts of data on SmartBiz.
Heavy users, likely businesses, were consuming massive amounts of data without delivering equivalent revenue, causing issues for Econet. In response, the company is re-designing SmartBiz, but the details of these changes are yet to be disclosed.
Affected customers only found out about the changed terms after calling customer service to complain about slow speeds. Some customers have started a change.org petition due to Econet's lack of transparency regarding the changes to SmartBiz. The regulator POTRAZ is reportedly being engaged due to the controversy, but no official statement has been made yet.
It's unclear if Econet will maintain the 200GB cap for SmartBiz in the future. The company could be considering geo-locking the service to manage network traffic better, but this is still speculation.
The SmartBiz website still states a 1TB FUP cap, contrary to the current 200GB cap implemented by Econet. Other SmartBiz packages at higher price points retain higher caps (1.2TB and 1.3TB), but the $45 package is the primary focus of complaints.
The threat from Starlink, initially perceived as significant, has lessened, and things have settled for now. However, the re-design of SmartBiz is expected to address the network issues that have arisen due to the surge in demand.
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- The changes in Econet's SmartBiz data package have raised concerns among small businesses and customers, as the 1TB soft cap has been reduced to 200GB, impacting those who rely on stable connections for their business operations and technology needs.
- The reduction in the SmartBiz data package's soft cap, along with Econet's continued marketing of the package with a 1TB cap, has led to allegations of misleading advertising in the finance and technology sectors.
