Vodacom Mocambique last week reached the 100 000 customer milestone after commencing commercial operations in one of Africa`s most promising economies in December 2003.
"Speed has been the name of the game for Vodacom Mocambique. The core network was built in three months, a six-figure customer base reached in six months and now we`re aiming for profitability by this time next year," said Clive Tarr, Managing Director of Vodacom Mocambique.
"With almost 20 million people and an impressive GDP growth rate, Mozambique is a mid-sized country with a super-sized future. You don`t get many investment destinations as attractive as this," he added.
Product innovations have been key to Vodacom Mocambique`s success. For example, only Vodacom offers Mozambicans prepaid cellular with no airtime window, prepaid roaming to SA, free `Please Call Me` messages, and only Vodacom doesn`t charge to change between per minute and per second billing on prepaid.
In addition, Vodacom is the only network in Mozambique to offer bundled minutes with contract packages and a unique prepaid-contract hybrid package called Top Up. Vodacom also offers all its Mozambican customers the ability to send SMSs to over 600 GSM cellular networks worldwide.
Vodacom Mocambique now covers Maputo/Matola, Beira, Nampula/Nacala, Pemba, Vilanculos, Inhambane, the corridors from Maputo to SA, Maputo to Swaziland, Maputo to Xai-Xai and Beira to Zimbabwe.
"A focus on the best network quality, most efficient customer care, widest distribution and most innovative value-added services should see Vodacom Mocambique achieving market dominance after three years," concluded Tarr.
Besides Mozambique, Vodacom has operations in SA, Lesotho, Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
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1. Vodacom Mocambique began commercial operations in December 2003, after receiving a GSM licence from the Instituto Nacional das Comunicac~oes de Mocambique (INCM) on 28 August 2002.
2. The registered name of Vodacom`s Mozambican subsidiary is "VM, S.A.R.L.", (trading as Vodacom Mocambique).
3. Vodacom International has the majority stake in Vodacom Mocambique with local partners Emotel, a consortium of local businesspeople, public figures and the war veterans association, having the remaining stake. Dr Hermenegildo Gamito of Emotel serves as chairman of Vodacom Mocambique.
4. Vodacom Mocambique`s infrastructure supplier is Siemens Telecommunications.
5. Vodacom Mocambique is that country`s second GSM licensee. Existing operator Telecommunicacoes Movies de Mozambique (TMM), also known as mCel, is 100%-owned by the Government of Mozambique.
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