Rivalry fierce in telecoms market




Dar es Salaam, Stiff competition in the telecoms industry recorded a mixed trend among operators as Zantel emerged the best performer in the second quarter while the market leader – Vodacom Tanzania – lost some subscribers.

Tanzania Communication Regulatory Authority (TCRA) telecoms quarterly report indicates that Zantel recorded the highest number of subscriptions after attaining a 17 per cent growth rate, followed by Airtel Tanzania (2.3 per cent), Tigo 0.9 per cent , while Vodacom Tanzania recorded a -2 per cent.
Zantel saw its subscriptions swell to 2.35 million by June 2012, from 1.51 million recorded in March this year, being an  increase of 845,628 subscriptions  in a period of three months. However, Vodacom remained on top in terms of market share which also experienced some changes.

The market share for Vodacom Tanzania stood at 44 per cent – a three per cent drop from 47 per cent recoded in March this year, Airtel Tanzania 27 per cent, up from 26 recorded in March, Tigo at  20 per cent with no change as  of March while Zantel stood at 8 per cent up from 6 per cent recorded in March this year.

Tanzania has continued to record unprecedented growth in voice telecom subscription, now hitting 28.03 million, according to the recently released Tanzania Communication Regulatory Authority (TCRA) telecoms quarterly report.

This is a four per cent increase in a period of three months as from March 31 – which stood at 26.97 million to 28.02 million subscriptions by June 30 this year. The available data from the regulator, shows that there was an increase of 1,046,175 subscriptions in a period of three months (four per cent ) down from 1,847,648 subscriptions  (7.15 per cent) recorded in March 31 this year.

By Sturmius  Mtweve
The Citizen Reporter