Tanzania Telecommunications Company Limited
Encyclopedia
Tanzania Telecommunications Company Limited (TTCL) is the oldest and largest fixed line telecommunications company in Tanzania
. The company comes forth from the former Tanzania Posts and Telecommunications Corporation in 1993. TTCL was wholly owned by the Government of Tanzania until the partial privatization
of the company on February 23, 2001.
TTCL is governed by statute
– the Tanzania
Telecommunications Act
of 1993. The company is licensee for fixed basic telephone
services in Tanzania mainland
and Zanzibar
and hence it owns and operates the public switched telephone network
in mainland Tanzania and on Zanzibar. Before the coming of mobile operators in late 1994, the company was enjoying monopoly
on Tanzania Mainland and a duopoly
on Tanzania
Zanzibar
, where Zanzibar Telecoms Limited (Zantel) was the second licensed fixed basic telephony operator.
The company has been in several joint managements due to its financial
instability. In early 2001, Celtel International
, at that time Dutch
MSI
, which has its headquarters in Amsterdam
, Netherlands
and Detecon
took over Board
and Management control of TTCL. In this partial privatisation the government of Tanzania sold 35% of its shares to the strategic investors. TTCL pulled out from joint management with the consortium
in August 2005. Again in February 2007 the company fell in management of the Canadian firm Sasktel
due to the same reason.
In February 1999 TTCL was having an exchange
capacity of 192,365 lines and 126,515 connected direct exchange lines
(DELs). The company was having a workforce
of under 4,000 as at February 1999. The company's revenues were approximately US$112 million in 1998, its earnings before interest
, tax
and depreciation
were approximately US$32 million in the same year, and following a major capital
restructuring it had a ‘clean’ balance sheet
.
The company has its headquarters and customer care allocated in Extelecom's Building in Dar Es Salaam
, Tanzania
. TTCL also has operational and engineering
branches in all regions in the country. It has been working with Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd
as the infrastructure
vendor of the company and Ericsson
as a long-term strategic supplier of the company.
TTCL comes forth from the former East African
telecommunications provider. In 1933, the former East African Post and Telegraph Company was incorporating the Tanganyikan, Kenyan and Ugandan Postal, Telegraph and Telephone providers. The East African Posts and Telecommunication Act causes the formation of the East African Posts and Telecommunications Administration in 1951.
In 1967,the East African Community
(EAC) was founded and replaced the East African Common Service Organization, in the aftermath, the East African Post and Telecommunications Corporation (EAP&TC) was established and replaced the East African Posts and Telecommunications Administration.
The breaking up of EAC
in 1977 forces EAC
member countries again to re-establish their own national Postal, Telegraph and Telephone businesses. Therefore in 1978 in Tanzania a parastatal was established under the name Tanzania Posts and Telecommunications Corporation (TPTC).
Telecommunication
sector liberalization
process in 1993 in Tanzania
again causes the spliting up of the TPTC. In this context, the TPTC split into three separate entities, namely the Tanzania Posts Corporation, the Tanzania Telecommunications Company Limited (TTCL), and the Tanzania Communication Commission (TCC).
TTCL was responsible for Telecommunication
services and it was established based on Parliamentary Act
, “The Tanzania Telecommunication Company Incorporation Act of 1993”. TTCL officially started operations on January 1, 1994. TTCL's main statutory function was to establish, develop and operate
telecommunication
and all incidental services within and outside Tanzania
in accordance with a licence issued by the Tanzania Communication Commission (TCC).
The partial privatization
of TTCL on February 23, 2001 was one of the first steps towards full liberalization of the market. In the aftermath, Celtel International
(previously known as MSI Cellular) which was having its headquarters in Amsterdam
, Netherlands
, together with the German
firm Detecon
, obtained 35% shares from the Government of Tanzania. In this context, the consortium took over Board
and Management control of TTCL on February 23, 2001] Based on this criterion the consortium
had a veto over major Board of directors
decisions, it had the right to appoint the senior management
, to set the annual business plan
and to control all capital expenditure
decisions.
Initially the consortium
invested US$60 million and a second payment was dependenting on the financial
performance of TTCL for the year 2000. In this first partial privatization
, other shareholders were local financial institutions 14%; international financial institutions, 10%; and TTCL employees, 5%. The government kept 36% of the shares until TTCL goes onto the Stock Exchange
and an initial public offering (IPO) is carried out. On August 5, 2005 the Government of Tanzania and Celtel International
signed an agreement whereby the shareholders agreed to the restructuring of the two companies and thereafter the TTCL and the Celtel
became legally, financially and operationally totally separate companies.
In February 2007 the Government of Tanzania awarded the Canadian firm SaskTel
a three year contract to manage TTCL. The contract is a performance based contract requiring the new management team to improve the financial position of TTCL and grow its customer and revenue sources. SaskTel International started to manage TTCL effectively on July 1, 2007. In this contract, SaskTel was responsible for managing all aspects of the TTCL operations, maintenance and expansion of the company in order to improve its financial, commercial and technical performance. Sasktel was in partnership with TTCL even before the contract
. In June 2003 Sasktel International was awarded a contract by TTCL to rehabilitate existing external line plant networks.
Because Sasktel was unable to purchase the 35% stake in TTCL when the operator was partially privatised in 2000, the TTCL workers and The Telecommunications Workers Union of Tanzania (Tewuta) were against the contract claiming that Sasktel will only add an unnecessary burden to both the government and the Tanzanian people.
Sasktel had submitted a 45-day notice that ends July 12, 2009, notifying its intention to pull out of the contract. http://www.telegeography.com/cu/article.php?article_id=29129&email=html
operates on CDMA2000
1X technology with operating frequency
of 800 MHz. The company is deployed mobile network and Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd
is the infrastructure
vendor of the company. TTCL has been working with long-term strategic supplier, HUAWEI
to launch its "ENGINE" to support IN Network
in April 2004.
with a contract for the supply of a CDMA2000
1x/EV-DO network
. The contract was to fix CDMA2000 networks for the company within the country. 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 Centre, Customer Care and Billing System allowing postpaid
services. While awarding the contract, the first phase of this network, was already installed in Dar Es Salaam
and was commercially opened in September 2006. HUAWEI supplied TTCL with mobile switching centre, base station controllers and base stations which were to be deployed in Dar Es Salaam, Dodoma
, Arusha
, Moshi
, Tanga
, Zanzibar
and other cities in the country. The contract also required NEC
to provide its point-to-point low- and medium-capacity microwave
radio
systems and HUAWEIcellular network
.
network
and Intelligent network
platform]launched by HUAWEI
. The expansion was to replace old systems, expanding the network into new areas and replacing equipment operating in non licensed radio bands
. Therefore the upgrading enabled TTCL to provide cost effective digital
leased line
s to mobile phone
operators as compared to the expensive lines via satellite
.
The customer care of TTCL consist of modern Call Centre which are allocated at the headquarters, Extelecoms House, in Dar es Salaam
. It is also equipped with an Automated Call Distribution facility, a Computer
Telephone
Integrated facility and Integrated Voice Response facility.
and TTCL has been working together even before Sasktel took over TTCL management. In June 2003 SaskTel International was awarded the contract by TTCL to rehabilitate existing external line plant]networks
in Dar es Salaam
, Dodoma
, Mwanza
and Moshi
.In this agreement Sasktel was required to rebuild damaged and destroyed aerial and duct type outside plant
as well as rehabilitation of distribution cabinets and distribution points (DP’s).
Tanzania
The United Republic of Tanzania is a country in East Africa bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, and Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique to the south. The country's eastern borders lie on the Indian Ocean.Tanzania is a state...
. The company comes forth from the former Tanzania Posts and Telecommunications Corporation in 1993. TTCL was wholly owned by the Government of Tanzania until the partial privatization
Privatization
Privatization is the incidence or process of transferring ownership of a business, enterprise, agency or public service from the public sector to the private sector or to private non-profit organizations...
of the company on February 23, 2001.
TTCL is governed by statute
Statute
A statute is a formal written enactment of a legislative authority that governs a state, city, or county. Typically, statutes command or prohibit something, or declare policy. The word is often used to distinguish law made by legislative bodies from case law, decided by courts, and regulations...
– the Tanzania
Tanzania
The United Republic of Tanzania is a country in East Africa bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, and Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique to the south. The country's eastern borders lie on the Indian Ocean.Tanzania is a state...
Telecommunications Act
Act of Parliament
An Act of Parliament is a statute enacted as primary legislation by a national or sub-national parliament. In the Republic of Ireland the term Act of the Oireachtas is used, and in the United States the term Act of Congress is used.In Commonwealth countries, the term is used both in a narrow...
of 1993. The company is licensee for fixed basic telephone
Telephone
The telephone , colloquially referred to as a phone, is a telecommunications device that transmits and receives sounds, usually the human voice. Telephones are a point-to-point communication system whose most basic function is to allow two people separated by large distances to talk to each other...
services in Tanzania mainland
Mainland
Mainland is a name given to a large landmass in a region , or to the largest of a group of islands in an archipelago. Sometimes its residents are called "Mainlanders"...
and Zanzibar
Zanzibar
Zanzibar ,Persian: زنگبار, from suffix bār: "coast" and Zangi: "bruin" ; is a semi-autonomous part of Tanzania, in East Africa. It comprises the Zanzibar Archipelago in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of the mainland, and consists of numerous small islands and two large ones: Unguja , and Pemba...
and hence it owns and operates the public switched telephone network
Public switched telephone network
The public switched telephone network is the network of the world's public circuit-switched telephone networks. It consists of telephone lines, fiber optic cables, microwave transmission links, cellular networks, communications satellites, and undersea telephone cables, all inter-connected by...
in mainland Tanzania and on Zanzibar. Before the coming of mobile operators in late 1994, the company was enjoying monopoly
Monopoly
A monopoly exists when a specific person or enterprise is the only supplier of a particular commodity...
on Tanzania Mainland and a duopoly
Duopoly
A true duopoly is a specific type of oligopoly where only two producers exist in one market. In reality, this definition is generally used where only two firms have dominant control over a market...
on Tanzania
Tanzania
The United Republic of Tanzania is a country in East Africa bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, and Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique to the south. The country's eastern borders lie on the Indian Ocean.Tanzania is a state...
Zanzibar
Zanzibar
Zanzibar ,Persian: زنگبار, from suffix bār: "coast" and Zangi: "bruin" ; is a semi-autonomous part of Tanzania, in East Africa. It comprises the Zanzibar Archipelago in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of the mainland, and consists of numerous small islands and two large ones: Unguja , and Pemba...
, where Zanzibar Telecoms Limited (Zantel) was the second licensed fixed basic telephony operator.
The company has been in several joint managements due to its financial
FINANCIAL
FINANCIAL is the weekly English-language newspaper with offices in Tbilisi, Georgia and Kiev, Ukraine. Published by Intelligence Group LLC, FINANCIAL is focused on opinion leaders and top business decision-makers; It's about world’s largest companies, investing, careers, and small business. It is...
instability. In early 2001, Celtel International
Celtel Tanzania
Celtel Tanzania Limited is the largest telecommunications company in Tanzania by coverage area and the second-largest telecommunications company in Tanzania after Vodacom Tanzania based on total wireless customers, with about 1.7 million users by August 2007.The company is the part of Celtel...
, at that time Dutch
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
MSI
MSI
-Computing:* Windows Installer, an installer system written by Microsoft for Windows platforms * Medium Scale Integration, a generation of integrated circuit chips which contain hundreds of transistors...
, which has its headquarters in Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
, Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
and Detecon
Detecon
Detecon International GmbH is a consultancy in the field of information and communications technology . Detecon International emerged in July 2002 from the merger of the two consulting firms Diebold and DETECON...
took over Board
Board of directors
A board of directors is a body of elected or appointed members who jointly oversee the activities of a company or organization. Other names include board of governors, board of managers, board of regents, board of trustees, and board of visitors...
and Management control of TTCL. In this partial privatisation the government of Tanzania sold 35% of its shares to the strategic investors. TTCL pulled out from joint management with the consortium
Consortium
A consortium is an association of two or more individuals, companies, organizations or governments with the objective of participating in a common activity or pooling their resources for achieving a common goal....
in August 2005. Again in February 2007 the company fell in management of the Canadian firm Sasktel
SaskTel
Saskatchewan Telecommunications is a provincial Crown Corporation operating under the authority of the Saskatchewan Telecommunications Act. It is the only remaining Crown Corporation in the Canadian telecommunications industry....
due to the same reason.
In February 1999 TTCL was having an exchange
Telephone exchange
In the field of telecommunications, a telephone exchange or telephone switch is a system of electronic components that connects telephone calls...
capacity of 192,365 lines and 126,515 connected direct exchange lines
Telephone exchange
In the field of telecommunications, a telephone exchange or telephone switch is a system of electronic components that connects telephone calls...
(DELs). The company was having a workforce
Workforce
The workforce is the labour pool in employment. It is generally used to describe those working for a single company or industry, but can also apply to a geographic region like a city, country, state, etc. The term generally excludes the employers or management, and implies those involved in...
of under 4,000 as at February 1999. The company's revenues were approximately US$112 million in 1998, its earnings before interest
Interest
Interest is a fee paid by a borrower of assets to the owner as a form of compensation for the use of the assets. It is most commonly the price paid for the use of borrowed money, or money earned by deposited funds....
, tax
Tax
To tax is to impose a financial charge or other levy upon a taxpayer by a state or the functional equivalent of a state such that failure to pay is punishable by law. Taxes are also imposed by many subnational entities...
and depreciation
Depreciation
Depreciation refers to two very different but related concepts:# the decrease in value of assets , and# the allocation of the cost of assets to periods in which the assets are used ....
were approximately US$32 million in the same year, and following a major capital
Financial capital
Financial capital can refer to money used by entrepreneurs and businesses to buy what they need to make their products or provide their services or to that sector of the economy based on its operation, i.e. retail, corporate, investment banking, etc....
restructuring it had a ‘clean’ balance sheet
Balance sheet
In financial accounting, a balance sheet or statement of financial position is a summary of the financial balances of a sole proprietorship, a business partnership or a company. Assets, liabilities and ownership equity are listed as of a specific date, such as the end of its financial year. A...
.
The company has its headquarters and customer care allocated in Extelecom's Building in Dar Es Salaam
Dar es Salaam
Dar es Salaam , formerly Mzizima, is the largest city in Tanzania. It is also the country's richest city and a regionally important economic centre. Dar es Salaam is actually an administrative province within Tanzania, and consists of three local government areas or administrative districts: ...
, Tanzania
Tanzania
The United Republic of Tanzania is a country in East Africa bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, and Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique to the south. The country's eastern borders lie on the Indian Ocean.Tanzania is a state...
. TTCL also has operational and engineering
Engineering
Engineering is the discipline, art, skill and profession of acquiring and applying scientific, mathematical, economic, social, and practical knowledge, in order to design and build structures, machines, devices, systems, materials and processes that safely realize improvements to the lives of...
branches in all regions in the country. It has been working with Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd
Huawei
Huawei is a Chinese multinational networking and telecommunications equipment and services company headquartered in Shenzhen, Guangdong, China...
as the infrastructure
Infrastructure
Infrastructure is basic physical and organizational structures needed for the operation of a society or enterprise, or the services and facilities necessary for an economy to function...
vendor of the company and Ericsson
Ericsson
Ericsson , one of Sweden's largest companies, is a provider of telecommunication and data communication systems, and related services, covering a range of technologies, including especially mobile networks...
as a long-term strategic supplier of the company.
History
East African
East African may refer to:*Any person or object of, or pertaining to, East Africa*East African Airlines, an airline based in Kampala, Uganda*East African Safari Air, a now defunct airline based in Kenya*The EastAfrican, a weekly newspaper in East Africa...
telecommunications provider. In 1933, the former East African Post and Telegraph Company was incorporating the Tanganyikan, Kenyan and Ugandan Postal, Telegraph and Telephone providers. The East African Posts and Telecommunication Act causes the formation of the East African Posts and Telecommunications Administration in 1951.
In 1967,the East African Community
East African Community
The East African Community is an intergovernmental organisation comprising the five east African countries Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda. Pierre Nkurunziza, the President of the Republic of Burundi, is the current Chairman of the East African Community. The EAC was originally...
(EAC) was founded and replaced the East African Common Service Organization, in the aftermath, the East African Post and Telecommunications Corporation (EAP&TC) was established and replaced the East African Posts and Telecommunications Administration.
The breaking up of EAC
EAC
EAC may mean:Organizations in North America:* Editors' Association of Canada* Election Assistance Commission U.S.* Eastern Arizona College* Eastern Athletic Conference, a high school sports conference in Massachusetts* Electronic Arts Canada...
in 1977 forces EAC
EAC
EAC may mean:Organizations in North America:* Editors' Association of Canada* Election Assistance Commission U.S.* Eastern Arizona College* Eastern Athletic Conference, a high school sports conference in Massachusetts* Electronic Arts Canada...
member countries again to re-establish their own national Postal, Telegraph and Telephone businesses. Therefore in 1978 in Tanzania a parastatal was established under the name Tanzania Posts and Telecommunications Corporation (TPTC).
Telecommunication
Telecommunication
Telecommunication is the transmission of information over significant distances to communicate. In earlier times, telecommunications involved the use of visual signals, such as beacons, smoke signals, semaphore telegraphs, signal flags, and optical heliographs, or audio messages via coded...
sector liberalization
Liberalization
In general, liberalization refers to a relaxation of previous government restrictions, usually in areas of social or economic policy. In some contexts this process or concept is often, but not always, referred to as deregulation...
process in 1993 in Tanzania
Tanzania
The United Republic of Tanzania is a country in East Africa bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, and Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique to the south. The country's eastern borders lie on the Indian Ocean.Tanzania is a state...
again causes the spliting up of the TPTC. In this context, the TPTC split into three separate entities, namely the Tanzania Posts Corporation, the Tanzania Telecommunications Company Limited (TTCL), and the Tanzania Communication Commission (TCC).
TTCL was responsible for Telecommunication
Telecommunication
Telecommunication is the transmission of information over significant distances to communicate. In earlier times, telecommunications involved the use of visual signals, such as beacons, smoke signals, semaphore telegraphs, signal flags, and optical heliographs, or audio messages via coded...
services and it was established based on Parliamentary Act
Act
Act may mean:* Act/Power is a philosophical notion defined by Aristotle and known as entelechy* Act , a British band* Act , a document recording the legality of a transaction or contract...
, “The Tanzania Telecommunication Company Incorporation Act of 1993”. TTCL officially started operations on January 1, 1994. TTCL's main statutory function was to establish, develop and operate
Operate
"Operate" is a Dance-punk song written and recorded by Peaches. The song was released as a double limited vinyl A-side with "Shake Yer Dix" to promote the release of her second studio album Fatherfucker.-Song usage:...
telecommunication
Telecommunication
Telecommunication is the transmission of information over significant distances to communicate. In earlier times, telecommunications involved the use of visual signals, such as beacons, smoke signals, semaphore telegraphs, signal flags, and optical heliographs, or audio messages via coded...
and all incidental services within and outside Tanzania
Tanzania
The United Republic of Tanzania is a country in East Africa bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, and Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique to the south. The country's eastern borders lie on the Indian Ocean.Tanzania is a state...
in accordance with a licence issued by the Tanzania Communication Commission (TCC).
Partial privatization of TTCL
Privatization
Privatization is the incidence or process of transferring ownership of a business, enterprise, agency or public service from the public sector to the private sector or to private non-profit organizations...
of TTCL on February 23, 2001 was one of the first steps towards full liberalization of the market. In the aftermath, Celtel International
Celtel Tanzania
Celtel Tanzania Limited is the largest telecommunications company in Tanzania by coverage area and the second-largest telecommunications company in Tanzania after Vodacom Tanzania based on total wireless customers, with about 1.7 million users by August 2007.The company is the part of Celtel...
(previously known as MSI Cellular) which was having its headquarters in Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
, Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, together with the German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
firm Detecon
Detecon
Detecon International GmbH is a consultancy in the field of information and communications technology . Detecon International emerged in July 2002 from the merger of the two consulting firms Diebold and DETECON...
, obtained 35% shares from the Government of Tanzania. In this context, the consortium took over Board
Board of directors
A board of directors is a body of elected or appointed members who jointly oversee the activities of a company or organization. Other names include board of governors, board of managers, board of regents, board of trustees, and board of visitors...
and Management control of TTCL on February 23, 2001] Based on this criterion the consortium
Consortium
A consortium is an association of two or more individuals, companies, organizations or governments with the objective of participating in a common activity or pooling their resources for achieving a common goal....
had a veto over major Board of directors
Board of directors
A board of directors is a body of elected or appointed members who jointly oversee the activities of a company or organization. Other names include board of governors, board of managers, board of regents, board of trustees, and board of visitors...
decisions, it had the right to appoint the senior management
Management
Management in all business and organizational activities is the act of getting people together to accomplish desired goals and objectives using available resources efficiently and effectively...
, to set the annual business plan
Business plan
A business plan is a formal statement of a set of business goals, the reasons why they are believed attainable, and the plan for reaching those goals. It may also contain background information about the organization or team attempting to reach those goals....
and to control all capital expenditure
Capital expenditure
Capital expenditures are expenditures creating future benefits. A capital expenditure is incurred when a business spends money either to buy fixed assets or to add to the value of an existing fixed asset with a useful life extending beyond the taxable year...
decisions.
Initially the consortium
Consortium
A consortium is an association of two or more individuals, companies, organizations or governments with the objective of participating in a common activity or pooling their resources for achieving a common goal....
invested US$60 million and a second payment was dependenting on the financial
FINANCIAL
FINANCIAL is the weekly English-language newspaper with offices in Tbilisi, Georgia and Kiev, Ukraine. Published by Intelligence Group LLC, FINANCIAL is focused on opinion leaders and top business decision-makers; It's about world’s largest companies, investing, careers, and small business. It is...
performance of TTCL for the year 2000. In this first partial privatization
Privatization
Privatization is the incidence or process of transferring ownership of a business, enterprise, agency or public service from the public sector to the private sector or to private non-profit organizations...
, other shareholders were local financial institutions 14%; international financial institutions, 10%; and TTCL employees, 5%. The government kept 36% of the shares until TTCL goes onto the Stock Exchange
Stock exchange
A stock exchange is an entity that provides services for stock brokers and traders to trade stocks, bonds, and other securities. Stock exchanges also provide facilities for issue and redemption of securities and other financial instruments, and capital events including the payment of income and...
and an initial public offering (IPO) is carried out. On August 5, 2005 the Government of Tanzania and Celtel International
Celtel Tanzania
Celtel Tanzania Limited is the largest telecommunications company in Tanzania by coverage area and the second-largest telecommunications company in Tanzania after Vodacom Tanzania based on total wireless customers, with about 1.7 million users by August 2007.The company is the part of Celtel...
signed an agreement whereby the shareholders agreed to the restructuring of the two companies and thereafter the TTCL and the Celtel
Celtel Tanzania
Celtel Tanzania Limited is the largest telecommunications company in Tanzania by coverage area and the second-largest telecommunications company in Tanzania after Vodacom Tanzania based on total wireless customers, with about 1.7 million users by August 2007.The company is the part of Celtel...
became legally, financially and operationally totally separate companies.
In February 2007 the Government of Tanzania awarded the Canadian firm SaskTel
SaskTel
Saskatchewan Telecommunications is a provincial Crown Corporation operating under the authority of the Saskatchewan Telecommunications Act. It is the only remaining Crown Corporation in the Canadian telecommunications industry....
a three year contract to manage TTCL. The contract is a performance based contract requiring the new management team to improve the financial position of TTCL and grow its customer and revenue sources. SaskTel International started to manage TTCL effectively on July 1, 2007. In this contract, SaskTel was responsible for managing all aspects of the TTCL operations, maintenance and expansion of the company in order to improve its financial, commercial and technical performance. Sasktel was in partnership with TTCL even before the contract
Contract
A contract is an agreement entered into by two parties or more with the intention of creating a legal obligation, which may have elements in writing. Contracts can be made orally. The remedy for breach of contract can be "damages" or compensation of money. In equity, the remedy can be specific...
. In June 2003 Sasktel International was awarded a contract by TTCL to rehabilitate existing external line plant networks.
Because Sasktel was unable to purchase the 35% stake in TTCL when the operator was partially privatised in 2000, the TTCL workers and The Telecommunications Workers Union of Tanzania (Tewuta) were against the contract claiming that Sasktel will only add an unnecessary burden to both the government and the Tanzanian people.
Sasktel had submitted a 45-day notice that ends July 12, 2009, notifying its intention to pull out of the contract. http://www.telegeography.com/cu/article.php?article_id=29129&email=html
Network and service development
The native TTCL networkTelecommunications network
A telecommunications network is a collection of terminals, links and nodes which connect together to enable telecommunication between users of the terminals. Networks may use circuit switching or message switching. Each terminal in the network must have a unique address so messages or connections...
operates on CDMA2000
CDMA2000
CDMA2000 is a family of 3G mobile technology standards, which use CDMA channel access, to send voice, data, and signaling data between mobile phones and cell sites. The set of standards includes: CDMA2000 1X, CDMA2000 EV-DO Rev. 0, CDMA2000 EV-DO Rev. A, and CDMA2000 EV-DO Rev. B...
1X technology with operating frequency
Frequency
Frequency is the number of occurrences of a repeating event per unit time. It is also referred to as temporal frequency.The period is the duration of one cycle in a repeating event, so the period is the reciprocal of the frequency...
of 800 MHz. The company is deployed mobile network and Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd
Huawei
Huawei is a Chinese multinational networking and telecommunications equipment and services company headquartered in Shenzhen, Guangdong, China...
is the infrastructure
Infrastructure
Infrastructure is basic physical and organizational structures needed for the operation of a society or enterprise, or the services and facilities necessary for an economy to function...
vendor of the company. TTCL has been working with long-term strategic supplier, HUAWEI
Huawei
Huawei is a Chinese multinational networking and telecommunications equipment and services company headquartered in Shenzhen, Guangdong, China...
to launch its "ENGINE" to support IN Network
Intelligent network
The Intelligent Network , is the standard network architecture specified in the . It is intended for fixed as well as mobile telecom networks...
in April 2004.
Intelligent network
In April 2003, TTCL awarded HUAWEIHuawei
Huawei is a Chinese multinational networking and telecommunications equipment and services company headquartered in Shenzhen, Guangdong, China...
with a contract for the supply of a CDMA2000
CDMA2000
CDMA2000 is a family of 3G mobile technology standards, which use CDMA channel access, to send voice, data, and signaling data between mobile phones and cell sites. The set of standards includes: CDMA2000 1X, CDMA2000 EV-DO Rev. 0, CDMA2000 EV-DO Rev. A, and CDMA2000 EV-DO Rev. B...
1x/EV-DO network
Telecommunications network
A telecommunications network is a collection of terminals, links and nodes which connect together to enable telecommunication between users of the terminals. Networks may use circuit switching or message switching. Each terminal in the network must have a unique address so messages or connections...
. The contract was to fix CDMA2000 networks for the company within the country. Along with the contract HUAWEI delivered an Intelligent Network
Intelligent network
The Intelligent Network , is the standard network architecture specified in the . It is intended for fixed as well as mobile telecom networks...
platform
Platform
- Physical objects and features :* Diving platform, used in competitive diving* Jumping platform, naturally occurring platforms, or platforms made in an ad-hoc way for cliff jumping* Oil platform, a structure built for oil production...
which enabled the company to introduce value added services such as Prepaid services, a Voice mail System, a Short Message Service Centre, Customer Care and Billing System allowing postpaid
Postpaid
Post Paid: A model of cellular service whereby the customer is charged for usage in the prior month , and hence does not feature any limitations on volume of service used...
services. While awarding the contract, the first phase of this network, was already installed in Dar Es Salaam
Dar es Salaam
Dar es Salaam , formerly Mzizima, is the largest city in Tanzania. It is also the country's richest city and a regionally important economic centre. Dar es Salaam is actually an administrative province within Tanzania, and consists of three local government areas or administrative districts: ...
and was commercially opened in September 2006. HUAWEI supplied TTCL with mobile switching centre, base station controllers and base stations which were to be deployed in Dar Es Salaam, Dodoma
Dodoma
Dodoma , officially Dodoma Urban District, population 324,347 , is the national capital of Tanzania, and the capital of the Dodoma region. In 1973, plans were made to move the capital to Dodoma...
, Arusha
Arusha
Arusha is a city in northern Tanzania. It is the capital of the Arusha Region, which claims a population of 1,288,088, including 281,608 for the Arusha District . Arusha is surrounded by some of Africa's most famous landscapes and national parks...
, Moshi
Moshi
Moshi is a Tanzanian town with a population of 144,739 in Kilimanjaro Region. The town is situated on the lower slopes of Mt Kilimanjaro, a volcanic mountain that is the highest mountain in Africa....
, Tanga
Tanga, Tanzania
Tanga is both the name of the most northerly seaport city of Tanzania, and the surrounding Tanga Region. It is the Regional Headquarters of the region.With a population of 243,580 in 2002, Tanga is one of the largest cities in the country...
, Zanzibar
Zanzibar
Zanzibar ,Persian: زنگبار, from suffix bār: "coast" and Zangi: "bruin" ; is a semi-autonomous part of Tanzania, in East Africa. It comprises the Zanzibar Archipelago in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of the mainland, and consists of numerous small islands and two large ones: Unguja , and Pemba...
and other cities in the country. The contract also required NEC
NEC
, a Japanese multinational IT company, has its headquarters in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. NEC, part of the Sumitomo Group, provides information technology and network solutions to business enterprises, communications services providers and government....
to provide its point-to-point low- and medium-capacity microwave
Microwave
Microwaves, a subset of radio waves, have wavelengths ranging from as long as one meter to as short as one millimeter, or equivalently, with frequencies between 300 MHz and 300 GHz. This broad definition includes both UHF and EHF , and various sources use different boundaries...
radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
systems and HUAWEIcellular network
Mobile phone
A mobile phone is a device which can make and receive telephone calls over a radio link whilst moving around a wide geographic area. It does so by connecting to a cellular network provided by a mobile network operator...
.
Radio network upgrade
The TTCL national radio network was expanded by 34Mb/s and STM-1 microwave radio equipment in the aftermath of new CDMA2000CDMA2000
CDMA2000 is a family of 3G mobile technology standards, which use CDMA channel access, to send voice, data, and signaling data between mobile phones and cell sites. The set of standards includes: CDMA2000 1X, CDMA2000 EV-DO Rev. 0, CDMA2000 EV-DO Rev. A, and CDMA2000 EV-DO Rev. B...
network
Telecommunications network
A telecommunications network is a collection of terminals, links and nodes which connect together to enable telecommunication between users of the terminals. Networks may use circuit switching or message switching. Each terminal in the network must have a unique address so messages or connections...
and Intelligent network
Intelligent network
The Intelligent Network , is the standard network architecture specified in the . It is intended for fixed as well as mobile telecom networks...
platform]launched by HUAWEI
Huawei
Huawei is a Chinese multinational networking and telecommunications equipment and services company headquartered in Shenzhen, Guangdong, China...
. The expansion was to replace old systems, expanding the network into new areas and replacing equipment operating in non licensed radio bands
ISM band
The industrial, scientific and medical radio bands are radio bands reserved internationally for the use of radio frequency energy for industrial, scientific and medical purposes other than communications....
. Therefore the upgrading enabled TTCL to provide cost effective digital
Digital
A digital system is a data technology that uses discrete values. By contrast, non-digital systems use a continuous range of values to represent information...
leased line
Leased line
A leased line is a service contract between a provider and a customer, whereby the provider agrees to deliver a symmetric telecommunications line connecting two or more locations in exchange for a monthly rent . It is sometimes known as a 'Private Circuit' or 'Data Line' in the UK or as CDN in Italy...
s to mobile phone
Mobile phone
A mobile phone is a device which can make and receive telephone calls over a radio link whilst moving around a wide geographic area. It does so by connecting to a cellular network provided by a mobile network operator...
operators as compared to the expensive lines via satellite
Satellite
In the context of spaceflight, a satellite is an object which has been placed into orbit by human endeavour. Such objects are sometimes called artificial satellites to distinguish them from natural satellites such as the Moon....
.
Customer care
Dar es Salaam
Dar es Salaam , formerly Mzizima, is the largest city in Tanzania. It is also the country's richest city and a regionally important economic centre. Dar es Salaam is actually an administrative province within Tanzania, and consists of three local government areas or administrative districts: ...
. It is also equipped with an Automated Call Distribution facility, a Computer
Computer
A computer is a programmable machine designed to sequentially and automatically carry out a sequence of arithmetic or logical operations. The particular sequence of operations can be changed readily, allowing the computer to solve more than one kind of problem...
Telephone
Telephone
The telephone , colloquially referred to as a phone, is a telecommunications device that transmits and receives sounds, usually the human voice. Telephones are a point-to-point communication system whose most basic function is to allow two people separated by large distances to talk to each other...
Integrated facility and Integrated Voice Response facility.
Network rehabilitation
SasktelSaskTel
Saskatchewan Telecommunications is a provincial Crown Corporation operating under the authority of the Saskatchewan Telecommunications Act. It is the only remaining Crown Corporation in the Canadian telecommunications industry....
and TTCL has been working together even before Sasktel took over TTCL management. In June 2003 SaskTel International was awarded the contract by TTCL to rehabilitate existing external line plant]networks
Telecommunications network
A telecommunications network is a collection of terminals, links and nodes which connect together to enable telecommunication between users of the terminals. Networks may use circuit switching or message switching. Each terminal in the network must have a unique address so messages or connections...
in Dar es Salaam
Dar es Salaam
Dar es Salaam , formerly Mzizima, is the largest city in Tanzania. It is also the country's richest city and a regionally important economic centre. Dar es Salaam is actually an administrative province within Tanzania, and consists of three local government areas or administrative districts: ...
, Dodoma
Dodoma
Dodoma , officially Dodoma Urban District, population 324,347 , is the national capital of Tanzania, and the capital of the Dodoma region. In 1973, plans were made to move the capital to Dodoma...
, Mwanza
Mwanza
Mwanza is a mid-sized port city on the southern shores of Lake Victoria in northwestern Tanzania. With an urban population of 1.2 million and a metropolitan population of 2 million, it is Tanzania's second largest city, following Dar es Salaam and ahead of other major Tanzanian cities of Arusha,...
and Moshi
Moshi
Moshi is a Tanzanian town with a population of 144,739 in Kilimanjaro Region. The town is situated on the lower slopes of Mt Kilimanjaro, a volcanic mountain that is the highest mountain in Africa....
.In this agreement Sasktel was required to rebuild damaged and destroyed aerial and duct type outside plant
Plant
Plants are living organisms belonging to the kingdom Plantae. Precise definitions of the kingdom vary, but as the term is used here, plants include familiar organisms such as trees, flowers, herbs, bushes, grasses, vines, ferns, mosses, and green algae. The group is also called green plants or...
as well as rehabilitation of distribution cabinets and distribution points (DP’s).
Other telecom companies In Tanzania
| Network Operator | Any Fixed line/Cable service? | Technology Deployed | Any Plan for Wimax? | Company strategies |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| TTCL | Yes - copper Cables Copper Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29. It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is soft and malleable; an exposed surface has a reddish-orange tarnish... ; leased line Leased line A leased line is a service contract between a provider and a customer, whereby the provider agrees to deliver a symmetric telecommunications line connecting two or more locations in exchange for a monthly rent . It is sometimes known as a 'Private Circuit' or 'Data Line' in the UK or as CDN in Italy... s; basic POTS Plain old telephone service Plain old telephone service is the voice-grade telephone service that remains the basic form of residential and small business service connection to the telephone network in many parts of the world.... ; ADSL; SDSL Symmetric Digital Subscriber Line Symmetric digital subscriber line can have two meanings:* In the wider sense it is a collection of Internet access technologies based on DSL that offer symmetric bandwidth upstream and downstream... . |
Mobile & Fixed Wireless Wireless Wireless telecommunications is the transfer of information between two or more points that are not physically connected. Distances can be short, such as a few meters for television remote control, or as far as thousands or even millions of kilometers for deep-space radio communications... : CDMA2000 CDMA2000 CDMA2000 is a family of 3G mobile technology standards, which use CDMA channel access, to send voice, data, and signaling data between mobile phones and cell sites. The set of standards includes: CDMA2000 1X, CDMA2000 EV-DO Rev. 0, CDMA2000 EV-DO Rev. A, and CDMA2000 EV-DO Rev. B... (3G 3G 3G or 3rd generation mobile telecommunications is a generation of standards for mobile phones and mobile telecommunication services fulfilling the International Mobile Telecommunications-2000 specifications by the International Telecommunication Union... ) Coverage area: At first major cities, later to cover the whole country |
Yes | Major strategy: voice access and backbone provision. National and international calling; Internet Internet The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide... access, International gateway Gateway (telecommunications) In telecommunications, the term gateway has the following meaning:*In a communications network, a network node equipped for interfacing with another network that uses different protocols.... license; video Video Video is the technology of electronically capturing, recording, processing, storing, transmitting, and reconstructing a sequence of still images representing scenes in motion.- History :... on demand in the future? |
| Celtel Tanzania (Zain) | No | GSM 900/1800; GPRS, EDGE Edge - Aviation :* Leading edge, a line connecting the forward-most points of a wing's profile* Trailing edge, the rear edge of the wing* Zivko Edge 540, an aerobatic aircraft- Mathematics, science and technology :... |
Not indicated | Mainly voice; |
| MIC Tanzania Limited (tiGO) MIC Tanzania Limited (tiGO) MIC Tanzania Limited is the oldest wireless Telecommunications company in Tanzania with 13.6% market share in the country. MIC Tanzania Limited was formerly known as Mobitel when it started to offer mobile telecommunication services in Tanzania, it was then known as Buzz when the... |
No | GSM 900/1800, plans for 3G | Yes, currently doing initial steps – no frequency Frequency Frequency is the number of occurrences of a repeating event per unit time. It is also referred to as temporal frequency.The period is the duration of one cycle in a repeating event, so the period is the reciprocal of the frequency... application yet |
Mainly voice |
| Vodacom Tanzania Vodacom Tanzania Vodacom Tanzania Limited is Tanzania's leading cellular network company. As of May 18, 2010, Vodacom Tanzania had over eight million customers and became the largest wireless telecommunications network in Tanzania... |
No | GSM 900/1800, plans for 3G 3G 3G or 3rd generation mobile telecommunications is a generation of standards for mobile phones and mobile telecommunication services fulfilling the International Mobile Telecommunications-2000 specifications by the International Telecommunication Union... rollout by 2007 (frequency allocated) |
Yes – spectrum Spectrum A spectrum is a condition that is not limited to a specific set of values but can vary infinitely within a continuum. The word saw its first scientific use within the field of optics to describe the rainbow of colors in visible light when separated using a prism; it has since been applied by... guaranteed by regulator for 3.5 GHz. Targeting data transfer for corporate sector - major cites |
Basic voice services; data transfer |
| ZANTEL | No | GSM 900/1800 – planning for 3G 3G 3G or 3rd generation mobile telecommunications is a generation of standards for mobile phones and mobile telecommunication services fulfilling the International Mobile Telecommunications-2000 specifications by the International Telecommunication Union... CDMA2000 CDMA2000 CDMA2000 is a family of 3G mobile technology standards, which use CDMA channel access, to send voice, data, and signaling data between mobile phones and cell sites. The set of standards includes: CDMA2000 1X, CDMA2000 EV-DO Rev. 0, CDMA2000 EV-DO Rev. A, and CDMA2000 EV-DO Rev. B... – Dar Es Salaam Dar es Salaam Dar es Salaam , formerly Mzizima, is the largest city in Tanzania. It is also the country's richest city and a regionally important economic centre. Dar es Salaam is actually an administrative province within Tanzania, and consists of three local government areas or administrative districts: ... , Zanzibar Zanzibar Zanzibar ,Persian: زنگبار, from suffix bār: "coast" and Zangi: "bruin" ; is a semi-autonomous part of Tanzania, in East Africa. It comprises the Zanzibar Archipelago in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of the mainland, and consists of numerous small islands and two large ones: Unguja , and Pemba... , Pemba National roaming agreement with Vodacom on the mainland Mainland Mainland is a name given to a large landmass in a region , or to the largest of a group of islands in an archipelago. Sometimes its residents are called "Mainlanders"... |
Yes | Voice; access to the international gateway Gateway (telecommunications) In telecommunications, the term gateway has the following meaning:*In a communications network, a network node equipped for interfacing with another network that uses different protocols.... |
See also
- Vodacom TanzaniaVodacom TanzaniaVodacom Tanzania Limited is Tanzania's leading cellular network company. As of May 18, 2010, Vodacom Tanzania had over eight million customers and became the largest wireless telecommunications network in Tanzania...
- Celtel TanzaniaCeltel TanzaniaCeltel Tanzania Limited is the largest telecommunications company in Tanzania by coverage area and the second-largest telecommunications company in Tanzania after Vodacom Tanzania based on total wireless customers, with about 1.7 million users by August 2007.The company is the part of Celtel...
- MIC Tanzania Limited (tiGO)MIC Tanzania Limited (tiGO)MIC Tanzania Limited is the oldest wireless Telecommunications company in Tanzania with 13.6% market share in the country. MIC Tanzania Limited was formerly known as Mobitel when it started to offer mobile telecommunication services in Tanzania, it was then known as Buzz when the...
- VodacomVodacomVodacom is a pan-African mobile telecommunications company, and was the 1st cellular network in South Africa. It provides GSM service to more than 35 million customers in South Africa, Tanzania, Lesotho, Mozambique and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Revenue for the year ended 31 March 2008...
- 3G Technology3G3G or 3rd generation mobile telecommunications is a generation of standards for mobile phones and mobile telecommunication services fulfilling the International Mobile Telecommunications-2000 specifications by the International Telecommunication Union...
- Celtel International CeltelCeltel was a telecommunications company that operated in several African countries. It was founded by Sudanese-born Mo Ibrahim.-History:Originally known as "MSI Cellular Investments", the company began operating in 1998...
- Celtel Africa ChallengeCeltel Africa ChallengeZain Africa Challenge is a televised academic competition for students of African universities, sponsored by Zain. Prior to the acquisition of MTC, Celtel's parent company, the competition was known as the Celtel Africa Challenge. The programme was an extension of Celtel’s corporate social...
- Eastern Africa Submarine Cable SystemEASSYThe Eastern Africa Submarine Cable System is an undersea fibre optic cable system connecting countries of eastern Africa to the rest of the world....