TTCL was granted exclusivity in the provision of fixed-line and international gateway services on Tanzania’s mainland in 2001 when the company was privatised.

"This new opportunity opens up the sector and we are ready to licence more operators if they meet the conditions," said John Nkoma, TCRA’s director general.

"We need credible and efficient operators and people with viable technical and business plans. We have quite a number of enquiries, but it would not be appropriate to name names."

He said the regulator would grant Zantel, a mobile and fixed-line provider on the island of Zanzibar, a license to operate on the mainland.

"Zantel is operating a fixed and mobile service and the license will now extend the geographic coverage to the mainland," he said.

TCRA said four companies that had laid a fibre optic network for internal communications would now be permitted to provide commercial service on the network once a license is granted.

"Because of exclusivity, they were not allowed to commercialise their telecommunications capacity, but now the framework allows them to apply for licenses," Nkoma said.

Nkoma also requested that companies apply for Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) licenses to increase competition in Tanzania’s telecommunications sector.

"The future of Tanzania telecommunications is bright. The teledensity is going to increase. Right now, we have only 2.1 million subscribers (for mobile and fixed line) out of a population of 35 million, which is very low."

Intelecon Research & Consultancy Ltd. 23/02/2005
Source: Reuters