Property Reporter
ZIMBABWE'S smallest mobile phone network operator by subscription, NetOne, is on the verge of moving out of the capital's central business district after it indicated its plans to build a new head office on the periphery of the city.
The State-owned mobile phone network operator last week announced that it is currently carrying out an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) ahead of the construction project which is expected to run into millions of dollars.
At present, NetOne is currently housed at the magnificent Kopje Plaza, a high rise property owned by the then Posts and Telecommuni-cation Corporation (PTC) pension fund which later disbanded into three different parastatals - NetOne, fixed telephone line operator TelOne and internet service provider ComOne. The transformation of PTC into different commercial entities came after government relaxed its monopoly on the telecoms sector.
Experts say the take-up of office space has been sluggish for some time due to the scaling down of business operations as a result of the liquidity crisis in the economy. Vacancy rates in the CBD have increased as demand has focused on suburban office parks. Nevertheless, significant increases in prime office rents, in the order of 100 percent, have been noted since the introduction of multi-currency trading in February 2009, triggering the exodus of major companies from the CBD. Investment activity has been subdued due to the prevailing tight liquidity conditions and the absence of long term credit.
A visit by this paper to the magnificent Kopje Plaza showed that the property, like most prime city properties, suffered from a huge vacancy rate. Should stakeholders and authorities give the telecoms firm the nod to proceed with this huge project, the prime office space located along Jason Moyo could lose a big client that has since its official opening in 1999 contributed immensely to the pension funds' revenue.
"NetOne proposes to construct its headquarters along the Arcturus Road near Chikurubi police residential camp. The scope of the project has the following key components; a three floor structure to be used as head office for the corporation plus telecommunication equipment house and associated masts, sports facility for use by NetOne staff and other approved club members, water supply system compromising on-site boreholes, on-site sew-age reticulation system and internal road network and external road rea-lignment," reads a statement issued by NetOne.
"Through the EIA process, some of the potential environmental (socio-economic and biophysical) impacts that will be examined include not limited to; air pollution potential; waste management, water pollution from resu-ltant effl-uent, road access and safety, and the environmental management plan will cover the whole project life cycle."
The company contracted SPD Africa Consulting Engineers to allow the EIA report finalisation and submission to the Environ-ment Management Agency (EMA) for review in line with the country's laws.
Last year, Net-One received a shot in the arm after China's Exim bank advanced a US$45 million loan earmarked for the company's network expansion and mordenisation. Until Ja-nuary 2009, NetOne was the country's second largest operator by subscription but has since sunk to the bottom of the the three firm oligopoly as capacity constraints weighed it down.
Show/Hide comments
Show/Hide comment form