JuaSimu – the world’s first solar-powered smartphone

Inexpensive smartphones are enabling mobile subscribers to access the internet at unprecedented levels across the African continent. However, it’s a challenge to keep mobile devices powered up, especially when access to electricity is often expensive, and unreliable. It is estimated that as many as 600 million people in sub-Saharan Africa lack access to electricity, with the electrification rate as low as 14.2% in rural areas. Solar energy can be an economically and environmentally competitive option that can contribute significantly to this scenario.

Today, Dotsavvy is delighted to launch its breakthrough innovation – JuaSimu – the world’s first solar-powered smartphone, made in Kenya. Dotsavvy’s research and development team has been working in stealth for almost 3 years developing a smartphone that is uniquely suited for Africa where access to reliable and affordable electricity can be challenging. JuaSimu is unique in that it has been designed from the bottom up to be a smartphone that relies solely on solar power.

The JuaSimu screen is an integrated solar panel that charges the battery whenever its exposed to the sun. The JuaSimu does not come with any charging cables or adaptors since it works directly from solar energy which is abundant for most of the year in Africa. Dotsavvy closely with Tesla Motors to develop a unique battery for the JuaSimu that can last longer and requires shorter charging cycles to achieve a full day of operating capacity. This battery technology is so cutting edge that Dotsavvy has patented the same.

Valentine Mghoi, User Experience Lead at Dotsavvy says, “JuaSimu is a massive breakthrough in terms of what a modern smartphone should be for African consumers taking into consideration our unique market conditions. JuaSimu is a mid-range Android smartphone and yet it packs amazing features in a cost-effective and high performance package. The seamless and refined user experience from the hardware to the software makes it look and work like most great smartphones, except JuaSimu is a one of a kind in that it only works using solar energy”.

Kenneth Ikiara, General Manager at Dotsavvy, says, “For almost 15 years the focus at Dotsavvy has been in digital solutions that enhance business performance. JuaSimu is our first foray in a consumer hardware offering which was a completely new experience for us compared to what we normally do. We had to work with global partners like Google and Tesla Motors to bring it to life. We are delighted to have made JuaSimu a reality after three years of hard work by our team”.

JuaSimu will be available from today the 1st April 2017 at all major supermarkets and mobile phone dealerships at an introductory launch price of Kes. 10,000.00 only. In addition, the first 1,000 buyers of JuaSimu smartphones will get a chance to win an all-expenses paid holiday to South Africa if they buy one by the end of August 2017. JuaSimu will also be available beyond Kenya from the 1st July 2017 in markets like Tanzania, Uganda and Rwanda.

Source: Dotsavvy 

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HALOTEL SIGNS PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT WITH NMB ON MONEY TRANSFER SERVICES

Halotel has today partnered with NMB to allow five Million Halotel and NMB customers enjoy cash deposit and withdraw services from HaloPesa.

This well designed integration will enable all HaloPesa customers to send money from their respective HaloPesa wallet to any NMB account at the comfort of their fingertips anytime and anywhere. This service also enables NMB customers by using NMB mobile to send money from their respective account to any HaloPesa wallet and access the cash at HaloPesa agent.

Speaking in Dar es Salaam while launching the new partnership, Halotel Deputy Managing Director, Le Van Dai, noted that the partnership is a big step for Halotel Tanzania, as it will enable Millions of Tanzanians to access banking transactions through HaloPesa.

Le Van Dai said Halotel is extending its HaloPesa agent network to NMB to make easy different banking transaction. ''and the target for this service is customers in remote areas and those who have a limited time to visit NMB branches to access banking services, but they can now do that with HaloPesa,” said Le Van Dai, insisting that teachers, fishermen, business people and farmers, most of which do not have time to visit the NMB branches due to busy daily schedules, and by so doing allowing NMB customers to deposit money conveniently into their bank account by a simple and easy to procedure  to follow the process of transferring money directly from HaloPesa wallet to NMB account’’

‘’And at the same time we are bringing NMB customers closer to their bank account by enabling withdrawals and deposit from the bank directly into the HaloPesa wallets everywhere across the country”

He added that, ''Halotel is now accessible to 95% of the country's population, with more than 30,000 HaloPesa agents. we believe this partnership will bring both NMB and HaloPesa services closer to the people. This service is essential to both Halotel and NMB customers, most of whom have not been able to access mobile banking services.

The NMB's Acting Chief of Retail Banking – Abdulmajid Nsekela said “Through this strong and long term partnership, NMB will be able to extend its distribution channels and in turn contribute significantly in improving customer’s lives and economy in urban and remote areas of the country”.

“The introduction of this service linked to NMB mobile will enable more than 2,000,000 NMB customers registered to NMB mobile to deposit money from HaloPesa to NMB account and also send money to other HaloPesa recipients from their NMB accounts at a very affordable rate. Said Nsekela adding that

“All NMB customers who are registered to NMB mobile will not need to visit NMB branches to make deposits to their accounts or transfer money to their business partners, friends and families. Introduction of this service enables any NMB mobile customer to send money to any HaloPesa wallet,” He further explained that,

“This enables teachers, police, nurses and all salaried workers who are passing their salaries through NMB account to be able to access their salaries without a need of visiting NMB branch. They can now simply send money from NMB account to HaloPesa wallet and withdraw cash at any HaloPesa Agent. The integration also enables customers to deposit cash to any NMB account by a simple transfer from HaloPesa wallet to any NMB account,” Nsekela concluded. 

The Introduction of this service will create convenience to all Tanzanian but mostly allowing the unbanked and under banked communities to access financial services close to them. NMB continues its commitment to drive financial inclusion and promote digital banking through innovation.  

Source: NMB

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Mobile Number Portability (MNP)

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MTN Uganda, CBA to provide virtual loans on mobile phones

Telecoms company MTN Uganda and the Commercial Bank of Africa have launched a virtual banking platform designed as a credit facility for the unbanked population, and those lacking collateral and credit history, who are locked out of the loans market.

The service requires MTN Mobile Money users to open a mobile bank account on MoKash, into which they can deposit as little as Ush50 ($0.015) in savings, and borrow up to Ush1,000,000 ($293) repayable at a rate of 9 per cent.

In the absence of proof of creditworthiness of the virtual customers, MTN says it will rely on other factors like the consistency of a customer’s usage of services like data and utility payment services to decide the loan amount to give.

The micro loan offer is a result of advancements in technology that have seen mobile money revolutionise the movement of money and the payment systems in the region.    

MTN hopes to replicate the success Safaricom has had in Kenya, after it partnered with CBA to launch a similar service, M-Shwari, in November 2012. A rollout to Tanzania was made the same year, where some 5 million customers are currently subscribed to the service.

By March this year, CBA had disbursed Ksh10 billion ($100 million) in loans and collected Ksh8.1 billion ($81 million) in savings from 3.9 million customers.

In Uganda, MoKash is expected to increase financial inclusion for people in rural areas.

According to Prof Augustus Nuwagaba, an economist and lecturer at Makerere University, 68 per cent of Ugandans are not monetised, that is, they do not touch money. Only 8.3 per cent of the population interacts with commercial banks.

In Rwanda, 28.2 per cent of the population interacts with banks.

Movement of money

Uganda is considered to have the highest movement of money in the region, but much of this is in the rural areas through traditional and informal methods of saving like purchase of land and livestock.

“Ugandans have a lot of money that ought to be saved. However, they do not have the incentive to save, and so domestic absorption will be slow,” said Prof Nuwagaba.

There is a need for telecoms companies to expand their networks to distant customers for the delivery of their products. Handsets also need to be made available to potential customers in rural areas, together with financial literacy training in the benefits, security, accessibility and relevance of the services.

Erick Muriuki, the general manager for new business at CBA, said that for a successful cashless economy to be realised, there is a need to digitalise the money velocity in an economy.  

This has to start with the reduction of costs incurred when making payments for utilities using digital means.

Source: theeastafrican

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Tanzania: Vodacom M-Pawa Loans Reach 4.2 Billion/ - in May

Over 4.2bn/- in loans was disbursed to Vodacom subscribers last month through M-Pawa thus becoming an important tool of boosting entrepreneurship among women and youth.

Vodacom Tanzania Chief Officer M-Commerce Mr Sitoyo Lopokoiyit said M-Pawa was increasingly being heralded as the tool for bringing financial services to the large unbanked population in Tanzania.

"In just two years since its launch, M-Pawa subscribers have skyrocketed to 4.8 million. Todate, 39bn/- have been issued to subscribers through M-Power and most of them are entrepreneurs mostly women and youth to increase income," he said.

Prior to introduction of various mobile financial solutions, the unbanked population relied on cash or informal financial services which were typically unsafe, inconvenient and denied them the opportunity to access loans.

The high penetration of mobile phones in Tanzania provided the basis for extending access to financial services such as payments, transfers, insurance, savings, and credit.

Thus Vodacom Tanzania in partnership with CBA bank introduced M-Pawa -- the first- ever mobile savings and loan service in Tanzania - a service that has proven to be a saviour to millions of its subscribers.

The introduction of Vodacom's M-Pawa was made possible in partnership with the Commercial Bank of Africa (CBA), following studies showing that there are millions of Tanzanians especially in rural areas who do not have bank accounts mostly due to the absence of banking institutions or lack of the requisite monies to open up a bank account.

Source:All africa

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Tigo Platinum sponsor of the GSMA Mobile 360 Series Conference – Tanzania

Millicom Group trading under the Tigo brand is the official platinum sponsor of the 2016 Mobile 360 Series- Africa conference, which will take place on 26-28 July at the Julius Nyerere International Convention Centre. The conference, the first of its kind in the country, is fully endorsed by the Tanzania Commission for Science and Technology (COSTECH) and the Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA). 

 “By sponsoring one of the most powerful trade associations in the telecommunications industry in the world, Tigo underscores its commitment in promoting digital lifestyle transformation and its leadership in delivering cutting-edge technology and innovation-factors that are critical to the growth of the telecom industry in Africa”, said Tigo Tanzania General Manager, Diego Guttierrez who will be among the key speakers at the summit.

 The event will comprise thought-provoking keynote addresses, fireside chats, and panel discussions. With the overall event theme of “Accelerating Access for All to Create a Digitally Inclusive Society”, each session will tackle a different aspect of the empowerment story, such as ‘Developing Ecosystems for Future Digital Services’, ‘Creating Opportunities for Local Content’ and much more. The full conference agenda is available at www.mobile360series.com/africa/#agenda/.

At Mobile 360 – Africa, CEOs and senior executives from leading mobile companies and from players across the digital ecosystem will address the most pressing trends and issues in mobile. Speakers confirmed to present at Mobile 360 – Africa include:

• Razvan Ungureanu, Chief Technical Officer, Airtel Africa
• Dr. Omobola Johnson, Chairperson, Alliance for Affordable Internet
• Bradley Shaw, Founder, Continuum Consulting
• Shiletsi Makhofane, Head of Government and Industry Relations, Ericsson Sub-Saharan Africa
• Mats Granryd, Director General, GSMA
• Qiu Heng, President of Wireless Marketing Operations, Wireless Network Product Line, Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd.
• Alice Munyua, Board of Trustees, Internet Society (ISOC)
• Kwame Baah-Acheamfuor, Chairman, ITU-T Study Group 12
• Ari Zlotoff, Director of Expansion, Off-Grid Electric
• Christopher Richardson, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder, ONEm
• Arnauld Blondet, Head of Innovation, Africa and Middle East, Orange Group
• Diego Gutierrez, General Manager, MIC Tanzania (Tigo)
• Ian Ferrao, CEO, Vodacom Tanzania 

In addition to the main conference, Mobile 360 – Africa will highlight the initiatives and activities undertaken by the GSMA Mobile for Development programme. The event will focus on the GSMA’s work to increase access to and use of life-enhancing mobile services; acceleration of socio-economic improvements for the underserved, especially women, rural and youth; and particularly digital and financial inclusion and identity for the unregistered.

GSMA Jumpstart

Back for a second year is the GSMA’s Jumpstart programme, which invites start-ups to showcase their mobile innovations in the region. This start-up pitch platform will feature six to eight exciting, early-stage entrepreneurs, with each giving a five-minute pitch to a panel of operators, investors, and to the audience, followed by questions. The pitch session will be followed by an informal networking reception for participants and the audience.

Mobile 360 – Africa Registration Now OpenRegistration for Mobile 360 – Africa is now open; individuals wishing to attend should visitwww.mobile360series.com/africa/#register.

Get Involved at Mobile 360 – Africa
The 2016 GSMA Mobile 360 Series – Africa is the third in a series of seven industry-focused events held in major cities across the world. For information on Mobile 360 – Africa, including sponsorship opportunities, please visitwww.mobile360series.com/africa. Follow developments and updates on Mobile 360 – Africa (#m360Africa) on Twitter @GSMA, on Facebook www.facebook.com/Mobile360Series and LinkedIn on www.linkedin.com/company/gsma-mobile-360-series.

Source:Tigo

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Tigo Tanzania launches innovative nano (Tigo Nivushe) lending scheme to its customers

Tigo Nivushe poised to foster financial inclusion
Leading digital lifestyle company, Tigo (www.Tigo.co.tz), announced today that it will launch an easy to access nano lending product to its stable of mobile financial services. This new product will not require collateral and offers immediate access to small loans to Tigo Pesa users.

Tigo Head of Mobile Financial Services, Ruan Sawnepoel, said in a statement to the press today that for the first time the nano loans product, called Tigo Nivushe will allow Tigo Pesa customers to build their own credit history and being open to any Tigo Pesa customer turns the typical lending models upside down.  No security is required or taken and the loan product has been designed to be transparent and foster responsible lending.

Explaining the product’s flexibility, Swanepoel said Tigo Nivushe offers different lending periods with variable administrative costs based on the length of tenure. The loans – with an average of Tsh 10,000 (US$ 5) – are processed in real-time and funds transferred within minutes. As customers build up their credit history they are able to borrow higher amounts with lower administration fees.  Loans are delivered directly to the mobile wallet so customers can immediately use the funds to pay bills, transfer to others, or cash out at the thousands of agents across the country, he noted.

“Tigo Nivushe has been designed to encourage responsible lending. Previous mobile behaviour is used to determine suitable limits for loans and customers will only be able to have one loan at a time.  Protection against life shocks is included as everyone will be automatically insured for the loan amount against death or permanent disability. Most importantly, as the product is fee based no interest can be accumulated in the event of default and acquiring a loan will not affect mobile or Tigo Pesa accounts in any way, “ Swanepoel said.

The head of Mobile Financial Services further said: “We are thrilled today to be launching Tigo Nivushe. It is an essential product for driving financial inclusion, which is critical to Tanzania’s continued economic growth and success. These quite small loans can make all the difference and are crucial for building credit history and obtaining credit in the future.”

Disruptive E-money services, delivered through mobile phones have already changed the lives of millions of people. With this new responsible lending product, Tigo wants to change the way people think about lending, according to Ruan.

Source:Tigo

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Tigo Pesa, now the largest Mobile Financial Service eco-system in Tanzania

Tigo becomes the only operator in Tanzania to offer interoperability with Airtel, Vodacom and Zantel

DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania, February 18, 2016/ -- Tigo Tanzania (www.Tigo.co.tz) announced today that customers of its Tigo Pesa mobile money service will now be able to move funds between any of the country’s mobile money operators, as Vodacom’s M-Pesa joins an interoperable network already set up by Tigo, Zantel and Airtel. Tigo becomes the only operator in Tanzania to offer interoperability with Airtel, Vodacom and Zantel.                                                            Vodacom’s participation means that more than 16 million mobile money users in Tanzania will be able to conduct transactions with one-another regardless of which mobile operator they use. It also creates Africa’s first universal interoperable mobile money network. In June 2014, Tigo, Airtel and Zantel announced a pioneering interoperability agreement. Since then, their customers have enjoyed interoperability between their mobile money accounts which has accounted for an increase of 3.5 times the value of total offline transactions. After announcing it would join the interoperable network one year ago, Vodacom has now implemented the deal. Interoperability in Tanzania today is not exclusive to mobile operators, and also includes more than 25 banks. The country’s 16 million mobile financial users transact the equivalent of more than 50% of Tanzania’s GDP each month. Thanks to this growing network, Tanzania is now the leading place for mobile money in east Africa, overtaking Kenya. Commenting on today’s announcement, Tigo Tanzania Head of Mobile Financial Services, Ruan Swanepoel, said: “With Tigo Pesa, customers will now benefit from faster, cheaper and safer cashless transactions with anyone across the country.” Swanepoel continued, “We believe interoperability is crucial to the success of mobile money and the wider goal of increasing financial inclusion. It is also a fundamental building block towards constructing a digital economy, enabling merchants and other start-ups to participate in the financial services ecosystem. Our aim going forward is to reach similar agreements with networks in other markets.” Distributed by APO (African Press Organization) on behalf of Tigo. SOURCE Tigo

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Qatar Airways takes off with M-Pesa

Qatar Airways, the national airline of the State of Qatar, has entered into a strategic partnership with one of the world's leading mobile money service providers, Vodacom, to launch a service that enables customers to pay for airfare with the M-Pesa service.

Travellers can book flights either online or at travel agents and use M-Pesa as a payment option, according to a press release.

"We are proud to be associated with Qatar Airways, one of the world's leading airlines," Vodacom Tanzania's Acting Managing Director Nina Pendaeli Eshun said in a statement. "Our goal is to remain relevant and responsive to market needs at all times. M-Pesa is about reach, access and convenience. That is why Vodacom customers travelling on Qatar airways can now purchase their tickets anytime and anywhere at the mere click of a button."

In order to pay, customers  go to the M-Pesa pay bill option, enter Qatar Airways' business number and insert their booking reference number and the amount quoted at time of the booking. Upon receipt of payment, the customer will receive an SMS confirmation and the e-ticket via email. The ticket may also be collected at Qatar Airways reservations or their airport office, according to the announcment.

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BULK SMS and other mobile VAS service,We power your mobile messaging and payments

BULK SMS and other mobile VAS service:

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Equity Bank has finally launched the thin SIM that provides a mobile payment, mobile banking and telecom services to its customers

Equity Bank Group has finally launched its thin SIM card to offer voice, SMS, data and mobile-to-bank money transfer services

Transfer of money within Equity Bank will be free and will only attract a fee while transferring from Equity Bank account to other banks.

Equity Group CEO James Mwangi says voice communications will Sh4 across all networks and one shilling for SMS, while mobile money transfer services will be free.

“The free money transfer services is like Internet banking services. What we are saying is why should the low income people be paying while the rich don’t pay so that when you transfer money from your account to your mothers account there will be no charge,” Mwangi said during the launch on Monday.

“With Equitel you will be able to send money to any telecom, bank account or mobile phone in the country,” Mwangi added.

Equitel is operating under Equity bank’s subsidiary Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) with infrastructure support provided by Airtel.

A new thin SIM card will go for Sh600 for new customers with no accounts at Equity Bank and who may be required to open accounts with the bank to enjoy the banking services. However the other normal cards will be given for free.

The thin SIM will start with the prefix of 0764 after the bank hit one million users under the 0763 prefix during the pilot project which was on the normal SIM cards.

READ: Government backs thin SIM technology

In partnership with switches in the market which include Kenswitch, Paynet and Kenya Bankers Association (KBA) customers can instantly send up to Sh1 million to all banks for Sh200 all days of the week.

“With the use of the switches that exist in the country, you can now transfer money from one bank to another even on a Sunday. Transfers of money have always been restricted to during the morning hours when clearing house is open. But now we have bypassed clearing because of this interconnection,” Mwangi explained.

The launch of the thin SIM comes after a long struggle which went up to the courts after complaints that use of the cards in the market was not safe.

Safaricom had raise concerns that the use of the thin SIM by placing it on top of customers’ existing SIM cards would interfere with privacy.

However Equity Bank won the battle after being cleared by the High Court in May this year.

Source:capitalfm

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Tanzania Telecoms target universal coverage

MAJOR telecoms have been approved to provide their services to 112 wards being part of a government drive to provide universal telecommunication.

Vodacom, Airtel and Tigo and TTCL will provide telecommunications services to 102 wards which are un-served or underserved for a total subsidy of 7.6 million US dollars (14.2bn/-) and another 10 wards located in border areas and special zones for 1.5 million US dollars (2.7bn/-).

The subsidies have been provided to attract the operators to move to the areas which currently do not attract private investment in telecommunication service.

Representatives of the telecommunication companies signed the agreement with the Chief Executive Officer of the Universal Communications Service Access Fund, Mr Peter Ulanga, in Dar es Salaam on Tuesday.

The agreement signed on Tuesday followed a similar one signed in 2014 where the mobile telephone companies won tender to provide telecommunication services to 86 wards and another one in 2013 where 52 wards were involved.

“This is a good progress towards our goal of universal telecommunication service in the country. We hope next time more wards, perhaps 300 will be covered,” said the Minister for Communication, Science & Technology, Prof. Makame Mbarawa.

The communication operators had been invited to bid for tenders to provide communication services to 158 wards in a project involving 26.28bn/- (14.21 million US dollars).

A total of 158 wards (lots) were floated in a set of currently un-served or under-served wards within the country and 102 lots were bid successfully.

Tigo will cover 42 wards where it will receive 3.145bn/- as subsidies to move to the areas. Vodacom will go to 36 wards and will receive 6.33bn/- as subsidies.

TTCL won 19 wards and will receive 4.15bn/- as subsidies while Airtel has been approved to cover five wards and will get 566m/- as subsidies.

The mobile operators also will provide telecommunication services to 10 wards in border and special zone areas where Vodacom has two wards and will be entitled for 804.7m/- as subsidies, Tigo will go to 5 wards and will receive 985m/- as subsidies and Airtel will provide telecommunication service to three wards and will get 984.9m/- as subsidies.

Meanwhile, the Universal Communications Service Access Fund signed agreement with the Avant Communications to connect 250 public schools with internet and also establishing 25 ICT academic centres in various areas in the country.

source:dailynews

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32 million Tanzanians ‘wired’

AT least 32 million Tanzanians had access to phone services, while the number of internet users reached 11 million at the end of last year, the industry regulator said in a recent report.

The Tanzania Communication Regulatory Authority (TCRA) said the figures reflected the tele-density of 67 per cent -- meaning that one in every two persons owns a phone -- a sharp rise from merely 10 per cent some ten years ago.

The telephone penetration has been attributed to a rapid growth and transformation of the country’s communications market in the last 10 years.

TCRA said in response to the global convergence of information communication technologies (ICTs), the country migrated into a converged licensing framework in 2005.

The regulator said the ICT market grew both in terms of subscribers of these services, variety of services and the expansion of the coverage area.

“The subscriptions for voice services rose by 91 per cent from 3.0 million in 2005 to 32 million in 2014. This resulted into a penetration of 67 per cent in December 2014 from 10 in 2005,” TCRA said.

Vodacom is leading the list of mobile telecom services providers comanding a third of the total market share, followed by Airtel with over 9.5 million subscribers, Tigo has over 7.6 million and Zantel 1.7 million.

TTCL has close to 300,000 subscribers, rising at 0.5 per cent per quarter while Benson has 528 customers and growing at negative 6 per cent a quarter.

However, fixed line subscribers decreased marginally to 151, 274 at the end of last year, from 154, 420 in 2005. TCRA report shows that internet service subscribers have increased to about 11 million by the end of last December from 3.5 million in 2008.

“At present, there is increased appetite for subscribers to use the internet, and this trend will continue, especially with the availability of broadband networks in Tanzania and proliferation of social media,” TCRA said. On the other hand, the usage of voice as measured by traffic minutes has increased parallel with the subscriptions.

The usage has risen from 506 million minutes in 2006 to 41 billion minutes in 2014. While the usage in terms of short messages (SMS) and data has also registered a tremendous growth, from about 5 million SMS in 2005 to 10 billion SMS in 2014.
Source:Dailynews

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Vodacom overtakes mining, banking in tax contributions

Vodacom Tanzania paid a staggering Sh47.1 billion in Corporate Tax last year, meaning the country’s largest mobile phone company was among the most profitable corporations locally.

The company says it is so far the second largest taxpayer in the country, after Tanzania Breweries, although it did not state in its financial report unveiled yesterday the total taxes it paid in 2014.

To put things into simple perspective, what Vodacom paid last year as taxes is bigger than what the much-debated mining firms—Geita Gold Mine and Acacia Mining— remitted.

Corporate Tax (Corporation Tax) is a levy charged on the gross profit of entities such as limited companies, organisations, clubs, societies, associations and other unincorporated bodies. For firms that are not listed on the Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange, the corporate tax rate is 30 per cent, signaling that Vodacom Tanzania may have made a gross profit of not less than Sh156 billion during the 2014 calendar year.

Going by Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA) figures, Tanzania had a total of 30.58 million Subscriber Identification Module (Sim) cards as at September 2014. Vodacom was leading the pack with some 11.316 million Sim cards.

Without specifying the chief sources of profits within the various sub-categories of its operations, the company said yesterday it would spend Sh150 billion to finance its expansion and service improvement programme in 2015 as it seeks to grow further.

The money will be used in investment in 2G and 3G sites and improving its M-Pesa services as well as other innovations.

However, Vodacom bemoaned a tough environment resulting from a drop in prices of both data and voice services while taxes have been going up in recent years.

Vodacom Tanzania managing director Rene Meza said the price per minute dropped from Sh58 in January 2013 to Sh24 in January 2015—representing an almost 59 per cent decrease— while the price per megabyte decreased from Sh9 to Sh5 (45 per cent drop) in the same period.

On the other hand, he said, excise duty on airtime increased from 5 per cent in 2002 to 17 per cent in 2014, making it one of the highest in Africa.

“These low prices are posing a challenge on our ability to continue investing. In reality, where did you see for instance food prices dropping by over 50 per cent in one year,” said Mr Meza during a press briefing.

The firm reported a 45 per cent increase in voice calls while internet usage almost tripled between 2013 and 2015.

Source: thecitizen

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TTCL targets higher competitiveness

THE country’s telecom giant, the Tanzania Telecommunication Company Limited (TTCL), has awakened. And this time around it wants to concentrate on retail business apart from corporate customers.

To realise its dream, the stateowned firm has embarked on a project to build a sophisticated quality 4G (LTE) Long Term Evolution, 3G and 2G networks.

The project will equip TTCL with a state-of-the-art technology that will help to expand and provide mobile telephone services across the entire country at relatively affordable rates.

TTCL’s Chief of Sales and Marketing, Mr Peter Ngota, said by July the firm will start offering mobile phone services using 3G and 4G’s network.

“Previously we concentrated on corporate customers but come July we want to offer 100 per cent mobile services in the country,” Mr Ngota said.

The coming of TTCL, which backed its services using ICT fibre-optic cable network, will bring a new price impetus among tele-service providers as some of them are connected to the state owned network.

Mr Ngota said for many years TTCL concentrated on serving corporate clients, despite having a platform to also provide services to retail customers.

This is not the first time for TTCL to venture into mobile telephone business. In 2003 it awarded Huawei, a global vendor, a contract to supply CDMA2000 network covering the entire country.

The project commenced in 2006. Along with the contract Huawei delivered an Intelligent Network platform which enabled the company to introduce value added services such as prepaid services, a voice mail system, a short message service and billing system allowing postpaid services.

Last month again, TTCL signed a 182-million US dollars deal with China’s Huawei Technologies to upgrade and expand its fixed and wireless networks. TTCL will now become the only firm in the country to operate GSM and CDMA2000 technologies.

Others are operating GSM technology only. GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications), is a standard developed by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) to describe protocols for second-generation (2G) digital cellular networks used by mobile phones.

CDMA 2000 (also known as C2K or IMT Multi-Carrier (IMTMC)) is a family of 3G mobile technology standards, which use CDMA channel access, to send voice, data, and signalling data between mobile phones and cell sites.

The name CDMA2000 actually denotes a family of standards that represent the successive, evolutionary stages of the underlying technology.

The TTCL Chief Executive Officer, Dr Kamugisha Kazaura, said the technologies would help the company offer higher quality data services at all fronts. This new agreement between Huawei and TTCL is part of the latter management efforts to improve services and expand them to more people across the country.

For instance, TTCL won a contract to take telecommunications services to over 65 wards that make up over 400 villages with over 500,000 people.

The 10-million-USdollars contract requires TTCL to take telecommunication services to rural areas under Universal Communications Service Access Fund (UCSAF).

UCSAF promotes the participation of the public and private sector in the provision of universal communication services to the rural and urban under served areas.

The Fund also want telecom firms to create a framework for an open and efficient access to and use of communication networks and service in production and availability of competitive market.

TTCL, which handles the national fibre-optic cable network also termed as the National ICT Broadband Backbone (NICTBB), said currently almost all Tanzania’s neighbours were at their subscription docket.

Those under TTCL dockets are Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Zambia and Malawi through the fire-optic cable. Through the NICTBB, Tanzania has been connected with East Africa’s submarine cable networks including SEACOM, EASSY and SEAS.

The TTCL’s ambition to conquer mobile phone market is cemented after Bharti Airtel, which was holding 35 per cent stake surrendered it to the state-run firm.

This means that TTCL has now taken 100 per cent control of the firm starting last week. Now the government can inject more funds for the company’s development, thus making it effectively offer services to its customers.

Financially, the company is sound. In 2010 it generated about 80bn/- and in 2013, the company’s revenue increased to 93bn/-.

In this year, Dr Kazaura said, the firm’s businesses is expected to increase by 50 per cent. TTCL’s main business is networking firms via broadband, internet bandwidth and wholesale administration.

So far TTCL has signed projects worth 15bn/- this year. Last year it had projects worth 10bn/-.

Source:DailyNews

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Microsoft launches smart phone in Dar

MICROSOFT has launched the first Lumia Smartphone in Tanzania with its own branding -- Lumia 535, in a campaign dubbed “Make It Happen EA Lumia 535.

Microsoft Mobile Devices East Africa Country Manager, Mr Micka Mavoa, said in Dar es Salaam over the weekend that Lumia 535 is a dual Smartphone which carries a Microsoft logo without the Nokia brand name.

“The smart phone has very unique operations wrapped up with a 5-inch screen, 5-megapixel front- and rear-facing camera, and free integrated Microsoft experiences such as Skype and OneNote to more people at an affordable price,” said Mr Mavoa.

He said that the phone’s operating system is not quite different from other Lumia phones but possessed qHD display with a resolution of 960 x 540 pixels together with a 5MP front-facing camera and enhanced sunlight readability.

Source: Dailynews

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We are far away from bankruptcy, says TTCL

TANZANIA Telecommunications Company Limited (TTCL) said on Thursday it is far away from insolvency because its main business is expected to increase by 50 per cent this year.

TTCL’s main business is networking firms via broadband, internet bandwidth and wholesale administration and said it has so far signed projects worth 15bn/- this year. Last year it had projects worth 10bn/-.

The firm’s Chief Executive Officer, Dr Kamugisha Kazaura, said the contracts at hand involved only corporate clients, while there was a lot expected this year.

“Though we (TTCL) are facing financial challenges but the business ahead is very promising and we are far from liquidation,” Dr Kazaura told the ‘Daily News’ during the National Insurance Corporation (NIC) fibre cable project handover.

The CEO said the issue of bankruptcy was the result of poor interpretation and analysis of TTCL monetary state of affairs, but the firm’s operations are ‘sound.’

“Currently, we are in discussions with the government to turn what they owe us into capital,” Dr Kazaura said. He did not go into details.

TTCL, which handles the national fibre-optic cable network also termed as the National ICT Broadband Backbone (NICTBB), said currently all Tanzania’s neighbours were at their subscription docket.

TTCL’s Chief of Sales and Marketing, Mr Peter Ngota, said by July the firm will start offering mobile phone services using 3G and 4G’s network.

“Previously we concentrated on corporate customers but come July we want to offer 100 per cent mobile services in the country,’ Mr Ngota said.

He said TTCL will use satellite in the areas where tele-signal are weak as a measure to assure superior quality and efficiency to its customers countrywide.

Last week, TTCL signed a 182-million US dollars deal with Chinese’s Huawei Technologies to upgrade and expand its fixed and wireless networks.

Under the terms of the contract - the first phase of which is expected to conclude in June where Huawei will upgrade the TTCL’s 2G and 3G networks and also deploy 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) technology.

The agreement will also see Huawei deploy networks in rural areas in line with a Universal Communications Service Access Fund (UCSAF) contract won by TTCL in February 2014.

Through the NICTBB, Tanzania has been connected with East Africa’s submarine cable networks including SEACOM, EASSY and SEAS.

TTCL connects Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Zambia and Malawi through fire optical cable. At the moment, TTCL is supplying 1.0 gigabytes of internet bandwidth to Rwanda, the 10 year deal worth 6.7-million US dollars.

Meanwhile, Dr Kamugisha said they have reconnected the local government optical cable network after an agreement with the government over the mode of payment which he did want to disclose.

Source:Dailynews

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