Airtel Enters Rwanda Market

Indian telecoms group Bharti Airtel has announced it has secured a licence to provide 2G and 3G cellular services in Rwanda, The New Times reports. 

The company plans to invest over USD100 million over the next three years, including USD30 million for the purchase of the operating licence. 

It aims to bring ‘affordable services and innovative products’ to the market, and plans to expand its wireless broadband network to all major towns across the country.

 In June 2010 Bharti Airtel acquired the African assets of Kuwait’s Zain Group, in a deal valued at USD10.7 billion. The company took over Zain’s operations in 15 countries, including Malawi, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Uganda.

Bharti will join two other mobile operators in the market: South Africa-based MTN Rwanda, which had a total of 2.794 million mobile subscribers at the end of June 2011; and Millicom Rwanda (Tigo), which is majority-owned by Luxembourg-based Millicom International Cellular and had a subscriber base of over 812,000 at the same date. A third operator, Rwandatel, had its mobile licence revoked in April 2011, after the company failed to meet licence obligations, such as coverage, quality of service and planned investment targets. Rwandatel is 80% owned by Libyan government investment vehicle LAP Green Networks, although telecoms regulator RURA said the decision to cancel its mobile licence had nothing to do with enforcing a United Nations (UN) resolution to impose sanctions on Libya, including the freezing of its assets, following unrest in the North African nation.

Rwanda Begins winding Up Libyan-Owned RwandaTel

The Rwandan government has reportedly begun insolvency proceedings in the country’s commercial courts against telecoms operator Rwandatel, which is 80% owned by Libyan government investment vehicle LAP Green Networks. 


According to a report by local daily The New Times, which cites Registrar General Louise Kanyonga, the decision to liquidate Rwandatel – in which the state holds the remaining 20% stake – comes after audited reports found that the company is in financial difficulties.


‘We were in receipt of their audited financial statements for the financial year 2009/10 in which the auditing firm concluded that the company was technically insolvent,’ Kanyonga said, adding: ‘Based on the powers given to the Registrar General by the Insolvency law to institute insolvency proceedings, an application was made to the commercial court in Nyarugenge [on Monday 11 April].’ 


Earlier this month telecoms regulator Rwanda Utilities Regulatory Agency (RURA) revoked Rwandatel’s mobile concession due to its failure to meet licence obligations, though the operator’s fixed telephony and ISP permits remain operational. In a separate development, the government last month froze all Libyan-owned assets in Rwanda to enforce United Nations (UN) sanctions following unrest in the North African nation.

Rwanda Government MTN Shares to Be Listed

The government of Rwanda plans to list its shareholding in MTN Rwanda on the newly launched Rwanda Stock Exchange (RSE) by the end of this year, local news paper Business Times reports.


The state holds a 10% stake in the telecoms operator, which is 55%-owned by South African company MTN Group, with Tristar Investments owning the remaining 35% stake. At the launch of the RSE earlier this week, Finance Minister John Rwangombwa said: ‘We are in the process of discussing with MTN South Africa; we have 10% of government shares and there is also another investor [Tristar] that wants to divest from this company, so we might have 45% shares from MTN coming on the market soon this year.’


The move forms part of the government's broader strategy to privatise companies in to facilitate development of capital markets and increase alternative sources of long-term capital for businesses.

LAP To Launch In Sierra Leone This April

GreenN Sierra Leone, a subsidiary of LAP Green Network, itself 100% owned by Libyan government-owned investment vehicle Libyan Africa Portfolio (LAP), will launch commercial operations in Sierra Leone’s wireless market in April this year, local newspaper Awoko reports.


Earlier this week Information and Communications Minister Alhaji Ibrahim Ben Kargbo made the first official call over the company’s GSM network to President Koroma. The minister said that GreenN Sierra Leone is part of efforts to strengthen the bilateral ties between Sierra Leone and Libya. 


According to GreenN Sierra Leone’s CEO, Elmabruk S. Elgembari, the company plans to invest USD50 million in the next three years, adding that the operator has so far constructed a total of 128 cell sites, including 42 in the provinces. 


The CEO also revealed that GreenN will provide quality and affordable voice, data and internet services. As well as Sierra Leone, LAP holds telecoms licences in six other African countries, including Rwanda, Uganda, Niger, Ivory Coast and Togo.

Rwanda Plans to Reduce Interconnection Rates

Rwanda Utilities Regulatory Agency (RURA) is working on a plan to lower interconnection fees among telecom operators, reports AllAfrica.

The watchdog’s acting director general Regis Gatarayiha said in an interview that interconnection charges were acting as a bottleneck to the sector’s growth, as they prevented retail prices falling, and that bringing down the standard charge from the current RWF40 (USD0.067) per minute would compel operators to lower the cost of mobile communications for end-users.

The regulator has commissioned a study ahead of a decision on new pricing, and hopes to adjust wholesale rates within four months, according to Gatarayiha.

Meanwhile, the same report quotes Mr Gatarayiha as saying that plans to licence a fourth mobile operator have been suspended until a formal policy decision is taken. He disclosed that the process would have started early in September and been completed within six months, but delays have occurred whilst RURA seeks agreement with operators on the licensing procedure and conditions. ‘We still have some three months to legalise everything, agree on the process and we may start it early next year, and I don't see it going beyond June,’ he said. The former director general of RURA, Diogene Mudenge, previously stated that a fourth licence would be issued ‘by the end of 2010’, whilst revealing that numbering codes for a new entrant had been reserved.

In another mobile sector development, Gatarayiha said that the government will start registering all active SIM cards early next year in an attempt to prevent crimes committed using cell phones.

Rwanda's National Fibre Line Deployment Reaches 50% Mark

Deployment of Rwanda’s 2,300km national fibre-optic backbone is over halfway to completion, with around 1,380km of fibre already rolled out across the country, local daily The New Times reports, citing ICT Minister Ignace Gatare.

According to Gatare, two major regional links – which connect the capital Kigali to Gatuna and Rusumo – are already covered and two more regional routes – linking Kigali and Kanyaru, and Kigali with Rubavu – will be completed by the end of September.

He added that construction of the backbone will be finished by the end of the year, with the network scheduled to be fully operational by April 2011.

The Rwandan government signed a USD40 million deal with South Korean incumbent telco KT Corp in October 2008 to supply and install the national fibre-optic backbone. The network will connect 317 institutions (97 in Kigali and 220 outside the capital) in all 30 districts, and connect all nine of Rwanda’s borders.

The government hopes the infrastructure will boost access to broadband services, including e-governance, e-banking, e-learning and e-health, and facilitate IT-based foreign direct investments in areas such as business outsourcing.

Wananchi Gears to Roll Out in Nine Countries With Cisco Deal

Kenyan ISP Wananchi Online has signed a contract with US technology solutions firm Cisco to rollout triple-play services across nine countries in East Africa. The deal is supported by East Africa Capital Partners and Viscous Capital, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Cisco.

Wananchi Online, which claims to be the only triple-play operator in East Africa intends to tap into markets in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, Malawi, Ethiopia, Sudan and Zambia. The contract will see Wananchi Online deploying Cisco's integrated end-to-end network technology solutions - encompassing its ‘Borderless Networks’ and collaboration and data centre virtualization solutions.

Wananchi intends to extend a backhaul and last-mile fibre network across Nairobi and Mombasa in Kenya and Dar es Salaam in Tanzania. It will also build a WiMAX wireless network to provide uncapped internet access in smaller urban centres in Kenya.

The company will supplement its WiMAX and fibre offerings with VSAT services for small and medium businesses, particularly in remote locations in East Africa. Its long-term plan is to take fibre to the smallest towns in the region. East Africa Capital Partners’ Richard Bell has admitted that Wananchi is keen to develop a network in South Africa too, but: ‘South Africa is still a very closed and regulated market. East Africa has leapfrogged ahead of South Africa. If we could get a licence to build a cable network in South Africa, we’d be there in a second.’

Mark Schneider, chairman of the Wananchi Group commented: ‘The entertainment market for both home and corporate customers in Africa as a whole continues to be reshaped in light of technological advancements and new industry partnerships. The Wananchi Group's key objective is to expand our portfolio and enhance our commercial proposition, revenues and reputation. Cisco will help us to continuously deliver the necessary technology enhancements to our infrastructure to serve our ever-growing customer needs and remain at the forefront of delivering new and innovative services to our customers.’

Executives at Wananchi and Cisco said that the cost of international bandwidth in the region is now as cheap as it is anywhere in the world - thanks to the recent launches of EASSY, SEACOM and TEAMS submarine cables – making this type of increased investment possible.

KDN Expands Into Six Countries

Kenya Data Networks (KDN) has expanded its network reach to six major countries in sub-Saharan Africa, enabling it to deliver cost effective services to Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon and Malawi. This year KDN is expanding its subscriber base which is prevalent in Nairobi, Mombasa, Kisumu, and Eldoret to provide high-quality broadband services to customers in the cities and rural areas of Kenya.

KDN has said that it aims to reach 80% of Kenyans with its data networks by the end of 2010.

Rwandatel Issues High Speed 3G Modem

Rwanda's largest Internet Service Provider (ISP) by market share, Rwandatel has launched a new modem that is compatible with the company's 3G mobile network, offering peak download speeds of up to 7.2Mbps.

MTN To Cut Investment in Rwanda By 55% in 2010

MTN Rwanda has announced that it will cut total annual investment in 2010 by 55% to USD45 million, Rwandan daily The New Times reports.

‘There is no need to invest heavily in building capacity and coverage every year. What we did in 2009 can serve in 2010 and what is required now is to maintain what we built last year,’ noted the MTN Rwanda’s CEO, Khaled Mikkawi. Instead the company will focus on attracting more subscribers through the introduction of new promotions to fully utilise MTN’s network capacity.

In 2009 the cellco invested around USD100 million in the expansion of network coverage and increased capacity to serve three million customers.

‘Currently we have close to two million subscribers and this year we are targeting an extra million subscribers hopefully to make up the three million our capacity can handle,’ Mikkawi added.

South Africa’s MTN Group increased its interest in MTN Rwanda from 40% to 55% for USD40.5 million in March 2008, leaving Tristar Investments with a 35% stake. The remaining 10% is owned by the Rwandan government.

LAP Aquires 80% Stake in Sudan's Gemtel

Libyan government investment vehicle Libyan African Investments Portfolio (LAP) has acquired an 80% stake in Southern Sudanese telecoms operator Gemtel via its telecoms arm, LAP Green Networks, Ugandan news source The New Vision reports.

Gemtel was licensed by the Government of Southern Sudan (GoSS) in 1996 and launched commercial GSM services shortly after in the cities of Juba and Yei. By mid-2009 the company had expanded its footprint to cover Waw, Torit, Bor and Rumbek.

Gemtel uses the dialling code of Uganda (+256), thanks to an interconnection agreement with Uganda Telecom (UTL) signed in September 2006, which allows the cellco to use the gateway for USD50,000 in interconnection fees per month.

LAP Green already operates in East Africa through its 80% shareholding in Rwandan fixed line and mobile telephony operator Rwandatel and 69% stake in UTL. The company also holds an interest in Sahelcom and Sonitel of Niger, and controls Oricel Green, a mobile operator in Cote d’Ivoire.

According to a statement from LAP Green, the firm has been shortlisted to buy a 75% stake in Zambia’s sole fixed line operator, Zambia Telecommunications Company (Zamtel).

MTN Rwanda Launches Mobile Banking

MTN Rwanda has announced the launch of its 'Mobile Money' service, targeting 100,000 subscribers in 2010, local daily The New Times reports.

MTN invested USD2 million in the implementation of its new offering, which enables customers on the MTN network to carry out financial transactions using their wireless handset through the 120 agents nationwide appointed by the operator. The service also allows non-subscribers of MTN to receive money.

Khaled Mikkawi, CEO at MTN Rwanda, commented: ‘We have a network reaching over 90% or the population and it is only right that we leverage this coverage for a common good product that will go a long way in the financial deepening of the Rwandan economy.’

MTN Rwanda is working with Commercial Bank of Rwanda (BCR) as the partner bank for its mobile money service.

Artel Dishes UTL For Rwanda Government Network

State-owned ISP New Artel Rwanda has said that it will now deliver high speed internet access from SEACOM’s fibre-optic cable through the national backbone, local daily The New Times reports. The company had in November planned to land the submarine cable through Uganda Telecom's (UTL’s) Point of Presence (PoP) Rwandatel that month.

However, officials have since discovered that incumbent telco Rwandatel does not have the capability of delivering the 155Mbps capacity. ‘In order to have a more reliable connectivity, the capacity will be delivered through the national fibre-optic backbone by UTL from Gatuna to Kigali,’ commented Francis Karemera, CEO of New Artel.

The Rwanda Development Board (RDB)-ICT expects to deliver the national backbone to the Gatuna border by the end of February to route the data to Kigali. New Artel plans to provide 155Mbps to the Kigali Metropolitan Network to connect government ministries, universities and districts. The network aims to connect 97 government agencies in Kigali and 226 in the districts, linking 36 main nodes nationwide.

Rwandatel Fibre-Optic Line Reaches Kigali By April

The 900km fibre-optic cable of Rwandan fixed line operator Rwandatel is expected to land in the capital Kigali by April this year, local daily New Times reports.

According to the operator’s CTO, Basilio Sadindi, the cable had been slated to land in Kigali by January 2010, but sister telco Uganda Telecom (UTL) has encountered delays in laying the cable from Ugandan capital Kampala to Masaka in the south of the country. According to TeleGeography’s GlobalComms Database, UTL and Rwandatel, which are both subsidiaries of Libyan government investment vehicle LAP Green Networks, contracted Green Future in September 2009 to deliver SEACOM's fibre connection to Uganda and Rwanda.

After a full connection to the submarine cable, Rwandatel's internet subscriber base is expected to increase by 10% in the first year. After signing a contract in August last year, UTL and Rwandatel also agreed to purchase an additional 155Mbps of capacity from the SEACOM submarine cable.

MTN Rwanda Deploys Aradial AAA System For Wi-Fi Service

Radius server and billing solutions provider Aradial has announced that Rwandan telecoms operator MTN Rwanda has deployed its Aradial AAA and Policy Control solution to provide Wi-Fi services to the city of Kigali.

The solution integrates with access controllers to manage Wi-Fi base stations and operates with Ericsson's intelligent network over the provisioning infrastructure of MTN to ensure zero charging leakages in the operator's pre-paid billing. ‘As a leading communications provider, we are committed to providing our customers with reliable and affordable services,’ commented Rami Farah, CTO of MTN Rwanda, adding, ‘The new solution will enable us to exercise full control over the usage of our hotspots very cost effectively, while improving our subscribers' service experience.’

The solution will allow the Rwandan operator to offer better internet connectivity to its customers, increasing its profitability while eliminating the overheads associated with customer provisioning, authorisation and accounting.

Tigo Goes Live In Rwanda

­Millicom says that it has officially started its mobile operations in Rwanda today. Millicom was awarded its license in December 2008 and will be the third operator in the Rwandan market. The service is launching with approximately 50% coverage of the population, with plans to extend coverage significantly over the next three years.

In addition, the operator has deployed 3G infrastructure in Kigali, the capital of Rwanda, and other key urban centres.

Mikael Grahne, President and CEO of Millicom, said "With a population of 10 million, mobile penetration of less than 20%, and a rapidly developing economy, Rwanda is a highly attractive market for Millicom. With our focus on affordability and our strengths in distribution and innovation, we believe we can make mobile voice and value-added services a reality for the mass market in Rwanda."

Rwanda to Sell Its 10% Stake in MTN

The government of Rwanda will sell off its 10 per cent stake in Rwanda MTN — a deal that could be the biggest by the state this year.

Officials say the government is set to transact its shares in three of nation’s biggest companies — which include MTN Rwanda, Bralirwa (the country’s sole brewing company) and Sonarwa (the country’s biggest insurance company), by the end of the year.

“It means that the government will trade off its 30 per cent stake in BRALIRWA, its 20 per cent stake in SONARWA and its 10 per cent share of MTN Rwanda,” said Finance Minister James Musoni.

“We are looking for a adviser to help us facilitate the transaction. The adviser will be outsourced in an open tender,” Mr Musoni said.

He told The EastAfrican that all government shares would be floated on the stock exchange — the Rwanda Over-the-Counter Market — by the end of the year.

Rwanda’s capital market was launched in early 2008.

In June this year, the Kenya Commercial Bank crosslisted on the Rwandan bourse.

Officials said that companies like MTN and Bralirwa had earlier expressed interest in issuing corporate bonds.

Bank of Rwanda Governor Francios Kanimba, while presenting the Monetary Policy and Financial Stability Statement last week, said there will be a listing of government shares of the three companies through one consortium.

Sonarwa is a French acronym for Societe Nouvelle d’Assurance du Rwanda.

It was acquired recently by Nigeria’s Industrial and General Insurance Company (35 per cent controlling stake).

Bralirwa (Brasseries et Limonaderies du Rwanda) is 70 per cent owned by the Heineken Group.

MTN Rwanda Introduces 3G Services

Rwandan mobile operator MTN Rwanda is set to launch 3G services, writes local newspaper The Business Times, citing Yvonne Manzi Makoro, the cellco's senior marketing officer.

Makoro said the technology is already up and running, but a commercial launch of the service will happen in the near future, although no specific date was mentioned in the report.

MTN began trialing a pilot W-CDMA network in the country's capital Kigali at the end of 2008.

Zambia Introduces Unified Licences

Zambia has begun offering 'unified' telecoms licences in a bid to attract international service providers, writes Computerworld Zambia. The country joins Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya and South Africa in offering a single concession for an array of services including internet and mobile telephony.

Zambian Minister of Communication and Transport Geoffrey Lungwangwa said in parliament last week that the country's new telecoms bill, which provides for the unified licence, will attract foreign investment in the sector and will protect the rights and interests of service providers and consumers. Among the things the bill is seeking to accomplish is the promotion of competition and efficiency among service providers, research, ICT equipment manufacturing and the use of new technologies including 3G and WiMAX.

The new bill gives power to Zambia Information and Communication Technology Authority (ZICTA), to regulate tariffs and agreements on interconnection fees. The bill further gives ZICTA power to determine a system for promoting the widespread availability and usage of electronic communication networks throughout Zambia by encouraging the installation of communication networks in rural and underserved areas.

Rwandatel Subscribers Hit 280K Mark

Rwandatel, the second national telecom operator has currently hit 280,000 subscribers, the company's Public Relations Manager, Cleophas Kabasiita has said.

Kabasiita told Business Times that, "The company has hit 280,000 active subscribers to date and the company will be rolling out more products, which are in transit and they will be on the market very soon in order to attract more clients," Kabasiita said.

Rwandatel which was officially launched last December has a target of 600,000 subscribers by the end of this year.

Kabasiita also said that the company has been beefing up its human resource base and optimising the network.

The company officials also attributed the increasing number of subscribers to better network and service delivery to the unexpected number of subscribers within its infancy of operations.

"This is the reason why our subscribers have been increasing very first, our network is very good and our customers are experiencing less and less dropped calls," She added.

Rwandatel is the Second National Operator (SNO) in the country after MTN-Rwanda.

TIGO which is owned by the Luxemburg based Millicom International has also received an operating licence and is yet to go commercial by the end of this year.

Kabasiita stated that Rwandatel is not worried of the prevailing competition and that is bent on providing its subscribers with the best network and competitive prices.

The company is the only mobile operator in Rwanda offering all range of Information Communication Technology (ICT) services, including GSM, CDMA and 3G mobile services.

Rwandatel is owned by Libyan African Portfolio (LAP) Green, the company purchased 80 per cent shares and promised to invest $317m (Rfw173b) over 15 years period to revamp the telecom sector in the country.