Vodacom Tanzania

Vodacom Group was licensed in December 1999 to operate a GSM cellular network in Tanzania and formed the subsidiary company Vodacom Tanzania Limited. The group also has operations in Kenya (Safaricom), Lesotho and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

When Vodacom entered in Tanzania there was one GSM 900 MHz cellular operator, Tritel, on the mainland of Tanzania, with about 20,000 active subscribers and another operator who was operating exclusively on the island of Zanzibar. There was also an analogue cellular network operator, MIC Tanzania Limited (tiGO), with active subscriber base of about 50,000. tiGo was known as Mobitel when it started its operation within the country in late 1993. There was also one government owned fixed-line telecommunications operator, Tanzania Telecommunications Company Limited, TTCL. Vodacom Tanzania was the third licensed network operator in Tanzania and became the largest mobile communications network operator in the country within one year of launching.[6]

Vodacom Tanzania was licensed in Tanzania with its local partners Planetel Communications holding 36% and Caspian Construction holding 16%. Later Planetel decreased its stake to 16%, while Caspian's increased to 19%.

A representative of Caspian on the Vodacom Tanzania board was businessman Rostam Aziz, a close supporter of President Jakaya Kikwete. At the time Vodacom was licensed in Tanzania, both men were not as powerful as they later became.

Rostam Azizi is a Tanzanian national. In 1993 he was elected as a member of the Tanzanian parliament on behalf of the Igunga constituency. He went on to win two consecutive terms as MP. Until November 2007 he served as finance and economic secretary of the Tanzanian parliament. In 2010 he quit politics to focus and grow his family business. The Azizi's are a fifth generation Tanzanian family of Middle Eastern origin. The family migrated from the south of Iran. They settled in Tanganyika after transiting in Zanzibar 150 years ago. The family began farming sisal, and rice. Today the Aziz family is among the most prominent business families in East Africa. They are engaged in an array of businesses, including telecom, ports, agriculture, media, and contract mining.

As for 28 September 2007 the extent to which Tanzania's population is covered with telecommunication services remains unclear. This is due to the fact that 100% regional and district coverage in terms of Points of Presence for Tanzania Telecommunication Limited does not indicate how deep it goes from there to different villages.

Vodacom Tanzania mainly resides and operates in Tanzania mainland and the company acts as a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) on the mainland for ZanTel. ZanTel has its own network in Zanzibar, and has made an agreement with Vodacom Tanzania to use the latter's facilities on the mainland, and thus, essentially to provide national roaming.

In East Africa, Vodacom Tanzania has its footprints within Tanzania and it has roaming arrangements with a number of East African carriers, such as MTN Uganda and Safaricom Kenya. The free-roaming zone in East Africa, between Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda was formed on 2 February 2007. Similarly to "One Network", world's first borderless network across East Africa, launched by Celtel on 27 September 2006. The free-roaming zone enables its subscribers to roam free between these countries, thereby scrapping roaming charges, making telephone calls and sending SMS at their home tariff and receiving incoming phone calls and SMS for free. It also enables them to buy airtime with their own vouchers when travelling outside of their home country.[7]

As of 2008, Vodacom Tanzania prepaid customers have only restricted roaming privileges (except for Kenya and Uganda roaming). While international roaming is available to all post-paid customers, it must first be activated through customer service. Once provisioned, charges for calls and SMS made and received while on international roaming are then added to customer's monthly post-paid account back in Tanzania. The company has International Roaming through partnerships with 288 live networks across 140 countries and territories such as Kerala in India. The newest roaming destinations include China and Germany. In Germany Vodacom prepaid customers are allowed to roam with Vodafone D2.

The 3G technology was part of a $126 million broadband technology roll-out and part of $1.3 million capital expenditure programme to extend the network of Vodacom in Tanzania as of December 2006. Again Siemens Communications based in South Africa was awarded a contract by Vodacom Tanzania to deliver and install the complete 3G network including HSDPA (High Speed Downlink Packet Access) technology. This is the second 3G network to be set up by Siemens in Southern Africa and it is claimed to be the first truly high-speed mobile broadband connectivity available in Tanzania. Siemens Communications was already responsible for building the 3G network for Vodacom in South Africa.[8]

Although the 3G technology was officially used in early 2007, the technology and required frequency supporting 3G services was in operational since early December 2006 as a testing phase to optimize the network. The company planned to extend the 3G capabilities to other regions of Tanzania in the aftermath of successful assessment of the first 3G roll-out. Vodacom Tanzania is the first in East Africa with such technology and it is claimed that 3G HSDPA gives a major competitive advantage to customers.[8]

Among other network operators in Tanzania, Vodacom Tanzania has a plan to deploy WiMAX technology. Others include TTCL, tiGO, and ZanTel. As for 28 September 2007, Celtel Tanzania could not indicate any plan for WiMAX roll-out.

Vodacom Tanzania's plans for WiMAX was followed by spectrum guaranteed by regulator for 3.5 GHz. The guaranteed spectrum will be used for targeting data transfer for corporate sector in major cities within the country.

Currently Vodacom Tanzania is using Cambridge Broadband's VectaStar equipment. This equipment can be deployed to backhaul traffic from both, mobile and data networks, including GSM, 3G and WiMAX sites. Actually, the equipment was fixed by Cambridge Broadband Limited as per radio transmission equipment contract. Vodacom Tanzania awarded the major radio transmission equipment contract to Cambridge Broadband Limited on 5 September 2006.