Zantel Introduces New Flat Rate Tariff

Tanzanian mobile services provider Zanzibar Telecom Limited (Zantel) has announced the launch of a new uniform call rate plan to other networks, marking a new wave of competition in the cut throat domestic sector.

The East African Business Week newspaper reports that Zantel’s offer called 'Twanga Kote Kote' (call anywhere) gives its subscribers freedom to make calls at any time to any network in Tanzania for only TZS1.99 (USD0.00133) per second, down from TZS5.50 per second previously - a 68% reduction.

The operator’s move is likely to be followed by other market players, while Peter Saluwati, the Executive Director for the national regulator, the Tanzania Communication Regulatory Authority (TCRA), welcomed the development, saying that lowering the across network charges was ‘good news’ for end users.

Tanzania Adamant on SIM Registration Deadline

The government of Tanzania is adamant that the deadline for registering SIM cards in the country is 30 June and warned yesterday that anyone failing to comply with the order will see their service cut off. Local newspaper The Citizen quotes the Communications, Science and Technology Minister Peter Msolla as saying that after the deadline, all new mobile SIM connections will be registered at the point of purchase. Tanzania launched its registration scheme in mid-2009 with a view to completing the process by 31 December, however the scheme was subsequently extended to 30 June 2010. The minister confirmed too that, some 10.2 million people had successfully registered their SIM cards by March.

Tanzania was home to 16.592 million mobile subscribers by the end of March 2010, with the country's five cellcos collectively adding 328,820 net new subscribers in the first three months of this year. Market leader Vodacom claimed a market share of 35.3% at that date, while second-placed Zain had 30.4% of the pie. Third place operator Tigo commanded a further 24.6% of users, and Zantel Mobile — once the nation's fastest growing cellco — had 9.0%. Trailing far behind the big four, the mobile arm of fixed line operator TTCL had 0.7%.

Etisalat Increases It's Stake in Zantel

Emirates Telecommunications Corporation (Etisalat) yesterday announced the purchase of an additional 14% stake in Tanzanian fixed line, internet access and mobile operator Zanzibar Telecom (Zantel) for USD16 million, raising its equity holding in the African firm to 65%. Etisalat said the move to increase its influence in Africa is part of a wider plan to help lower its reliance on revenues generated in its home market. Etisalat had last increased its stake in Zantel by 17% in October 2007. Commenting on the purchase of the additional shares, Etisalat's Chief Financial Officer Salem Al Sharhan said: ‘The future is in data, information services and internet … Abroad, we will continue to look for opportunities everywhere. We will consider every market where we think we can be profitable.’

Tanzanian Phone Users Now 17.6 Million

Data just released by the Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA) shows that the country was home to a total of 17.642 million fixed and mobile subscriptions at the end of 2009, up from 13.130 million a year earlier, a combined teledensity of 43% (32%, 2008). Of the total subscriptions recorded at end-2009 17.469 million were cellular connections to one of the country’s leading mobile operators.

Market leader Vodacom attracted 1.475 million new users last year for a total of 6.883 million, while second-placed Zain (Celtel) signed up a net 1.048 million new users in the period for a total of 4.910 million. Zain, however, failed to reach its own stated goal of six million customers by the end of last year.

Third place operator Tigo boosted its base to 4.178 million by the end of 2009, and Zantel Mobile — once the nation's fastest growing cellco — added roughly 300,000 net new customers during the period for a total of 1.378 million. Trailing far behind the big four, the mobile arm of fixed line operator TTCL added just 10,000 subscribers for a total of 115,681, and Benson Informatics Limited (BOL), which lost 300 subscribers in 2008, had 3,101 data-only subscribers, up 101 since the start of the year.

In the fixed line segment, TCRA reported 172,922 fixed lines in service as at 31 December 2009, up from 123,809 at the start of the year, but only marginally higher than the 163,269 counted at 31 December 2007. National PSTN operator Tanzania Telecommunications Company Ltd (TTCL) claimed the lion's share with 157,321 lines at end-2009 (its December 2008 figure was 116,265 after it disconnected a number of active lines), with Zanzibar Telecommunications' (Zantel's) fixed line division taking the remainder.

Zain Tanzania Forecasts More Subscribers But No Growth In Sales

Zain's Tanzanian mobile venture expects full-year turnover to be flat for 2009 on the back of a cut in consumer spending caused by the wider economic slowdown, although it also reports it hopes to continue to see strong gains in terms of subscribers for the rest of the year.

The unit's managing director Khaled Muhtadi told Reuters he expected customer numbers to keep growing but anticipates 'flat revenue growth' in 2009. 'We see 5.2 million customers by the end of this year, up from 4.8 million currently, and aim to reach six million at the end of next year,' Muhtadi said in an interview.

'Revenue ... was USD328 million for 2008. We don't expect much growth in 2009. The revenue has been rather flat and a lot slower than expected because of the world economic situation,' he added.

Muhtadi went on to say his company has invested USD500 million in its Tanzanian network infrastructure over the past five years. And as part of a new consortium with rival operators Simbanet, Tigo and Zantel, he said Zain was ready to pump a further USD100 million to lay a joint fibre infrastructure throughout the country. 

'We're saying either allow us to put down that backbone or allow us to lease it from the government, but up to now there's no visibility on this and we're not being given the right to lay our own national backbone: this is the bottleneck we're seeing,' Muhtadi said.