Regulatory
Mobile
Internet
The future
A telecomm rich country Tanzania has had until recently one of the worst Tele-densities of the continent. Since 1993 the country has been actively engaged in a reform process. The foundation of which is the telecommunications policy that has separated the operational and regulatory functions and ushered in the private sector operators.
Most notable among the recent moves has been the drive to privatise the national operator Tanzania Telecommunications Company, which will now focus n the delivery of services to the rural areas. Recent reports have indicated that the Tanzanian government is keen to sell off the national telecommunications network with several prospective buyers keen to become involved in the local market.
The executive chairman of the government Parastatal Sector Reform Commission John Rumambe says," There is superb potential for a private telecomm company in Tanzania, with only 127 lines connecting about 2% of Tanzanian families."
The privatisation drive is expected to deliver an injection of capital and technology to roll out services to more citizens. The Tanzanian government has reserved shares for itself and local investors.
Regulatory
The regulatory environment of Tanzania has been put forward by the Tanzania Telecommunications act of 1993 with the ruling body being the Tanzania Communications Commission. The regulator has defined services that require licensing as those companies that deal in the importation, installation and maintenance of telecommunications equipment.
The licence conditions are guided by limited and unlimited competition to increase the services, in terms of variety and to roll out a more cost-effective means of communication to the rural areas. In recent years the most of the telecommunication sectors have been licensed, most recent among these was the fourth mobile licence being awarded to a consortium consisting of South African mobile network company Vodacom and Tanzanian company Plantel
The PSTN market sector has been restricted in certain ways with the TTCL being the only operator on the main land. However fixed network licences have been granted in the semiautonomous regions of Zanzibar and Pemba to both TTCL and Zantel.
The licence awarded to Zantel has more political motives than commercial with links to the island`s aspirations of becoming autonomous. After the licence was ranted Zanzibar applied for an international access code. These actions were considered to be sudden and did not fit the transparent nature that the regulator was trying to establish at that time.
Tanzania Telecommunications Corporation holds exclusivity to transmit voice over a fixed line networks on the main land. The corporation has been busy with the roll out and maintenance of network services. Major contracts have been awarded to NEC and Ericsson for upgrade of national switching and transmission systems. The improvements have not been as extensive or rapid as expected.
Mobile
Tanzania has four mobile network operators namely Mobitel, Tritel and Plantel. Millicom International Cellular and TTCL jointly own Mobitel. The network is intended to deliver a national transmission structure based on satellite and the terrestrial system of TACS. The company is busy migrating the network platform from analogue to digital as stipulated by the regulator with full migration expect around 2003.
The Tritel is a joint venture between Technology Resources Behrad from Malaysia and VIP engineering and marketing based in Tanzania. The network covers the coastal and northern section and has been in operation since 1995. Using GSM technology the network is able to offer services to Dar es Salaam, Zanzibar, Moshi and Arusha. Tritel is believed to have an estimated 13 00 subscribers with the numbers increasing steadily.
Zantel has been granted a licence to operate a GSM mobile network on the island of Zanzibar and is expected to form part of the company`s service offering together with the PSTN.
The fourth mobile network is the joint venture between Vodacom and Plantel. The network is expected to be operational before the end of the year, Vodacom will hold 55% with Plantel holding the remaining 45%. The total investment expected to be in the region of $ 90 million.
The total number of subscribers across the country has been pegged at 40 000 with the arrival of the new networks expected to significantly boost this number.
Internet
The development of the internet in Tanzania has produced some creative solutions to being able to connect with the rest of the world. There are three top level ISPs in the land, SITA, Wilken/Afsat and Datel. SITA is an airline communications concern. That`s has obtained a closed user group licence together with a public licence.
Datel is a joint venture between Tanzania Telecommunications Corporation Limited and Nexus International a subsidiary of the France Telecom. Nexus holds a 51% stake in the business with plans a foot to reduce this to 36%
Wilken/Afsat is connected to the Wilken International group a family business that has been supplying voice communications in East Africa. In addition to the international data carrier licence the company has also obtained a wireless data transmission licence which will connect clients to its 12 metre international earth station in Dar es Salaam.
For a number of years the internet services market was restricted due to the high cost of connection. However, recently the established ISPs began reselling bandwidth to other customers, which has spurned a new market for lower level ISPs.
Most notable among these has been CyberTwiga, which is the country`s first commercial internet service with a 64K link through SITA and a 256 K, link over Interpackets Espresso service. CyberTwiga has also set up an HF radio e-mail service. Other creative solutions on offer from the company are their wireless links using the Wi-LAN for leased line clients in the Arusha area.
The future
If Tanzania is able to maintain its current environment of nurturing the privatisation of telecommunications then there is indeed a brought future for communications in Africa. The recent investments by foreign companies into the country and the potential sale of the national operator should serve to highlight the positive direction that is being taken.
Share
