The
state-owned Tanzania Telecommunication Company (TTCL) has signed
contracts to offer communications services to companies in nine
African countries, the Guardian reported. TTCL hosts the National
Information Communications Technology Broadband Backbone
infrastructure which covers 99 percent of Tanzania. ICT minister
Makame Mbarawa said TTCL had signed contracts with mobile
telecommunication firms in Mozambique, Burundi, Malawi, Rwanda,
Uganda and Zambia to supply internet bandwidth.
Mbarawa
said South African company MTN and the Zambia Electricity Supply
Corporation are among the firms seeking connections, as are
state-owned Malawi Telecommunication and Airtel Malawi. A connection
will be made via the Kabanga border to Burundi, where UCOM and Econet
Burundi have applied. Rwanda will be connected through the Rusumo
border. Talks with Uganda, Kenya and Mozambique are ongoing, he said.
With
7,400 kilometres (km) of fibre optic cable already laid, the national
backbone has been extended to eight border points, namely Sirari,
Namanga and Horohoro on the border with Kenya; Mutukula on the border
with Uganda; and Rusumo on the border with Rwanda.
Mbarawa
also said the government is planning to purchase the 35 percent stake
in TTCL currently held by Airtel Tanzania as part of a turnaround
process. Mbarawa said the TTCL was facing challenges such as lack of
capacity to embrace modern technology. He said TTCL has a wide
network in the country and should have been among the best in the
country but that this is not what is happening.
Telecompaper.com