Airtel Africa Plc, a telecom company, has announced that it has purchased extra spectrum in Tanzania. The 140 MHz spectrum divided across the 2600 and 3500 MHz bands was sold to Airtel by the Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA) for $60.1 million.
This aims to provide enormous capacity to match the nation’s continuous robust data growth, the expansion of mobile data, and fixed wireless home broadband capability, including the 5G rollout.
Speaking on this acquisition, the telecommunication company, in a statement, said,
“This investment reflects our continued confidence in the opportunity inherent in the Tanzanian market, supporting the local communities and economy through furthering digital inclusion and connectivity.”
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With the arrival of 5G technology, telco operator Airtel Africa has been working on expanding its coverage and developing a 5G presence in 14 African countries. Recall, for instance, in Nigeria, Airtel Africa paid $94 million for 10MHz of 900MHz spectrum in 2020. The estimated cost of the spectrum, excluding the required NCC fees, was $70 million.
Additionally, for $42 million in June 2022, Airtel purchased a 58MHz spectrum in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. There are four bands in this spectrum: 900, 1800, 2100, and 2600 MHz. This was done to support the DRC market’s adoption of fixed wireless home internet and mobile data expansion over 4G.
After purchasing the DRC spectrum, Airtel Africa spent $40 million on the Communications Authority of Kenya for a 60MHz of 2600MHz telecom spectrum. In two months, there have been transactions totalling $82 million.
Read also: ITU Mobilises $28bn To Boost Internet Use Among African Women, Others
Reasons Behind Tanzania Expansion
Tanzania has seven mobile operators, including Airtel and Vodacom, making it one of the Sub-Saharan African markets with the highest level of competition. In terms of revenue and coverage, Vodacom is outpacing the rest of the telecommunications industry. The following paragraphs outline some of the performance of Vodacom in comparison to Airtel
After Q2 2022, Vodacom had roughly 15.6 million users. This is a 28.8% market share, while Airtel, which had 14.8 million customers in Q2 2022, held a 27.4% market share.
Furthermore, Vodacom launched a 5G mobile service in Dar es Salaam in September 2022 and has plans to expand it to roughly 230 locations in other cities. Vodacom’s speeds will ultimately rise as more people switch to 5G cell phones and pay more for them.
Additionally, it is making investments in new strategies for growing its service offerings. To broaden the reach of its network, the company signed a partnership agreement with the National ICT Broadband Backbone (NICTBB), a national fiber optic cable network, in May 2022.
It is now evident why Airtel has decided to expand in the Tanzanian telecommunications market. This choice was made to capture a significant portion and displace Vodacom as its leader.
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Airtel Africa Collaborates With American Towers Corporation To Maintain Increased Connectivity
Multi-year cooperation between Airtel Africa and American Tower Corporation (ATC) will allow Airtel to use communication sites to assist the expansion of its network across the continent through ATC’s Africa operation.
To support Airtel Africa’s network rollout, American Tower will use ATC Africa’s operations in Kenya, Niger, Nigeria, and Uganda. The corporations hope to extend digital inclusion to underserved populations and maintain increased connectivity across the continent through cooperation.
Following the agreement, the firms have also agreed to adhere to the new green site requirements set forth by ATC Africa to lessen its use of fossil fuels. The two companies have decided to keep collaborating to upgrade the current telecom sites to meet the requirements for green sites set forth by ATC Africa.
The partnership is also anticipated to lessen ATC Africa’s and Airtel Africa’s exposure to fuel price volatility. To reduce on-site reliance on fossil fuels, ATC Africa CEO Marek Busfy said his company had invested over $300 million in energy efficiency upgrades, renewable energy deployments, and energy storage solutions.
Busfy said, “As we selectively extend the platform services we offer, we are demonstrating our commitment to introduce new and renewable sources of energy to power our sites, which protects the industry, our customers, and consumers from ongoing and future volatility in fuel prices. Airtel Africa’s environmental goals are aligned with ours, and as we extend digital reach on the African continent, we remain committed to reducing GHG (Green House Gas) emissions in tandem with our growth.”
Segun Ogunsanya, CEO of Airtel Africa, said, “Airtel Africa’s corporate citizenship requires us to extend coverage to remote areas, and meeting this obligation is necessary to establishing a sustainable partnership with a like-minded industry player.”
This new spectrum purchased by Airtel Africa in Tanzania will go a long way in developing the market for both mobile data and fixed wireless home broadband