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Leading state-owned mobile telephony company NetOne has launched the Rumbidzo-Khulekani platform, an entertainment service that is meant to captivate the mass market with a variety of religious content available to all denominations.
NetOne Chief Executive Officer, Mr Raphael Mushanawani, in an announcement during the launch, said the service requires a user to download the APP from PlayStore to access and navigate live and pre-recorded sermons, music, and videos.
The service empowers subscribers with the freedom to choose when to listen to a pre-recorded show at their own time.
From a religious perspective, Christianity is by far the dominant religion in Zimbabwe, with 69.2% Protestant, 8.0% Catholicism, 6.9% Non-denominational Christian totaling 84.1% of the population. The next most common belief in Zimbabwe is no belief at all – with 10.2% of the population declaring themselves Atheist or agnostic. The remaining 5.7% of the population either practice the traditional African religion or are Muslim.
The largest proportion of Christians belongs to the Apostolic sect 34 %followed by Pentecostal 20 % and Protestant 16%. Of the 2.4 million Data users, 1.6 million subscribers are on Social Media. According to the Zimbabwe Mobile industry statistics, 9.53 million people are Internet and Data Subscribers. There are 53% Smartphone Penetration and 63.1% Internet Penetration rates.
NetOne provides the digital platform while Sonic Signal is the content aggregator to manage artistes on behalf of NetOne. The artistes will be engaged through Sonic Signal.
One simply needs to download the Rumbidzo-Khulekani App on Google Play Store. On the App, enter the phone number and receive a One Time Password (OTP). Select a subscription plan and enjoy the wide range of gospel content. To opt out, select the drop-down menu and select “logout”.
In introducing the product, Mr. Mushanawani said NteOne reaffirms its position as the leader in providing digital solutions tailor-made to meet all its customers’ needs.
“We realise that among other facets of wellbeing, spirituality is one of them. And on to the menu of our platter of packages, we are adding one that reaches out to the Bible sermons and Gospel music fans. Rumbidzo-Khulekani Gospel App is a subscription-based, value-added service offering the streaming and playing of Gospel music and sermons.
“Many a time we are unable to access fixed programs on gospel music or sermons. This app will now bridge the gap ensuring our subscribers are nourished spiritually, at their convenience,” Mr. Mushanawani said.
Dr. T. Garikayi, a NetOne board member said the launch of such products is evidence of not only the work that is being done but the relevance that NetOne continues to strike in the lives of its stakeholders as well as synergies with content partners such as Gospel artistes.
“This truly shows that we are impacting communities by taking care of such unifying aspects as our spirituality. Zimbabwe is largely a Christian faith-based country and such an App will surely positively impact the lives of NetOne customers with added convenience,” Dr. Garikayi said.
