Nov 16 2009
Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/8c58d1/tanzania_telecom) has announced the addition of the "Tanzania - Telecoms Market Overview & Statistics" report to their offering.
Executive summary Tanzania's economy has been showing solid growth rates of between 5% and 8% every year since 2000. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) predicts only a moderate decline of GDP growth to 5% in 2009 as a result of the global economic crisis, before 7% and more will be achieved again from 2011 onwards.
Mining and tourism are main industry sectors. However, the country continues to suffer from underdeveloped infrastructure, including roads, railways, electricity and telecommunications.
The government has actively embraced the principals of competition and a private sector including foreign participation as a means of rapidly advancing economic and social development. Policy reforms have led to the telecom sector becoming one of the more liberal ones in Africa. However, high import tariffs on telecoms equipment and taxes on telephone facilities by various authorities are still placing a burden on investors and operators.
Tanzania has two fixed-line operators (TTCL and Zantel) and seven operational mobile networks, with four additional players licensed under a new converged regulatory regime. Growing at more than 40% p.a., the mobile market passed the 14 million mark in mid-2009 with four major operators: Vodacom, Zain, Tigo and Zantel. At a penetration level of less than 40%, growth is set to continue. At the same time, however, the average revenue per user (ARPU) continues to fall.
A new converged licensing regime introduced in 2006 has brought a large number of new players into the market. The liberalisation of Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) telephony as well as the introduction of third-generation (3G) mobile services and wireless broadband networks is boosting the Internet sector which has been hampered by the low level of development of the traditional fixed-line network.
The arrival of the first fibre optic international submarine cable to the country's shores in July 2009 is set to revolutionise the market which up to that point completely depended on expensive satellite connections. A second cable is expected to go live in 2010. In parallel, the government has embarked on a national fibre backbone rollout to connect population centres around the country.
Source: http://www.researchandmarkets.com/