Mobile telecommunications operator Tigo Tanzania is looking to spend over US$100 million in an East African network expansion project.
The money will go into network infrastructure development.
The company hopes to ease the connection issues that its subscribers face from time to time in the country, according to Tigo’s country manager, Diego Gutierrez.
Gutierrez told the East African Business Week that the fund will be channeled towards capacity upgrades and installation of new base stations all over Tanzania.
Tigo owns 20 percent market share in Tanzania with nearly 5.4 million subscribers, according to Tanzania Communication Regulatory Authority’s 2012 statistics.
The statistics show that Vodacom Tanzania has a 47 percent share of the country’s mobile market with 12.6 million subscribers, followed by Airtel with about 7.1 million subscribers, representing 26 percent of the market share.
Tigo comes in third, ahead of Zantel with 6 percent of the market share of 1.4 million subscribers.
The project, expected to reach 26 regions of the country, would be complete by the end of 2012.
If this goes as planned, Tigo will gain the largest coverage footprint in Tanzania.
The expansion plan also comes few days after Tigo launched a mobile phone farming solution dubbed ‘Tigo Kilimo’ that will provide farmers with the relevant and timely agricultural information on their mobile phones.
Through the SMS platform, farmers will get real-time information on weather forecast and agricultural tips.
This will enable them to increase their yield and help close the productivity gap with other parts of the world.
