The Tanzanian government has stopped an India-based data and value-added services [VAS] company OnMobile from operating in the country following accusations that it [OnMobile] has no trading license.
Tanzania’s deputy minister for communications, science and technology January Yusuf Makamba said that OnMobile had already started operation before being issued with a business license.
The company had earlier applied for the license.
According to reports, OnMobile had already struck partnership deals with Vodacom and Airtel, Tanzania’s major cellular network operators, even before receiving the trading license.
“We have curtailed their business. It is illegal in this country to engage in such big-time trading without being registered,” the deputy minister said, during a session at the Tanzanian National Assembly.
Following this, Makamba, through the Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA), has instructed OnMobile to wait until it receives a legal trading license before it resumes its operations.
OnMobile offers several services in their product portfolio including mobile music, multi-screen video gateway and delivery solutions, phone backup and personal cloud management solutions, voice and video portals, m-commerce products and services.
The company is also listed on India’s Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and the National Stock Exchange (NSE). According to information from the company’s website, OnMobile claims to reach over 1 billion mobile users across 55 countries every month, with revenues exceeding US$800 million.
