Vietnam’s Viettel enters Tanzania

Dar es Salaam; Tanzania: Tanzania has granted a licence to Vietnam-based telecoms operator Viettel to build a third-generation (3G) mobile phone network in the country, a senior official said. Viettel will compete with the four other main operators: Vodacom Tanzania, a unit of South Africa’s Vodacom; Bharti Airtel; Tigo Tanzania, part of Sweden’s Millicom; and Zantel, a unit of Etisalat.

Three other mobile phone operators —State-run TTCL, Benson and Smart —have a tiny market share. Viettel will start building its national network on November 1 and is expected to launch its mobile services in July 2015, Tanzania’s deputy communication, science and technology minister, January Makamba, told Reuters late on Friday.

“We also like the fact that they will roll out broadband through fibre-optic cable to rural Tanzania. These plans align with the government’s objective of digital inclusion,” he said.

Tanzania’s mobile telecoms sector has grown rapidly over the past decade. The nation of 45 million people has 28.88 million mobile subscribers, representing a mobile penetration of 64 per cent, the regulator says.

Makamba said Viettel plans to focus on rural areas where about 4,000 villages currently without a network would be covered by 2016.

—Reuters