In March, the Ministry of Works, Transport and Communications of Tanzania issued a new set of propositions to enhance collaboration between the government and telecommunication operators in order to provide mobile services to unconnected rural populations. The document, issued by the government, specified new coverage objectives and conditional incentives for operators in order to help the country to bridge its 1.5 million persons 2G coverage gap.

The new propositions set out to incentivise operators to cover specific areas of the country including border areas; schools; vocational training centres; ward (local district) executive health outlets and public institutions across the list of uncovered wards provided by the Universal Communications Service Access Fund (UCSAF).

According to the latest assessment, carried out by UCSAF, about 400 wards remain to be covered by mobile operators in Tanzania. The document specifies that these areas and key public assets will need to be covered by 3G technology or above. Fibre networks are also considered as part of this plan.

In order to incentivise operators to cover these areas, the government is considering a range of concessions including discounted access to the national fibre broadband backbone, fast tracked acquisition of rights of way and equipment subsidies.

Although these concessions do represent a step in the right direction, a study by the GSMA reveals that much more will be required. While the 2G coverage gap in Tanzania affects 15 per cent of the population, 3G coverage still lags significantly behind with only 35 per cent of the population covered to date. The analysis reveals that the government will need to act on multiple fronts in order to make full mobile broadband coverage a reality by 2020. These include:

• The Tanzanian government will need to review its policy and regulatory framework in order to facilitate operators’ ability to mutualise their assets with particular regard to the active components of their networks;
• Access to public infrastructures must be facilitated through clear and transparent pricing as well as efficient administrative process; and
• Specific taxes on telecommunication players must be alleviated to free the necessary cash for investment.

The GSMA believes that if the government were willing to take such steps, the country would witness a significant increase in mobile broadband adoption figures impacting positively both GDP and fiscal intakes. The GSMA therefore encourages the Tanzanian government to embrace the bold decisions required to lead Tanzania into the digital age.