TTCL: Our customers to get high-speed internet services
What you need to know:
The state-owned telecommunication firm will launch its Fourth Generation-Long Term Evolution (4G-LTE), the company said in the city yesterday.
Dar es Salaam. The Tanzania Telecommunications Company Limited (TTCL) is expected to launch its high-speed wireless data communication for mobile phones and data terminals, bringing hope of improved services to the firm’s clients.
The state-owned telecommunication firm will launch its Fourth Generation-Long Term Evolution (4G-LTE), the company said in the city yesterday.
The potential and current applications of the 4G-LTE include the amended mobile web access, Internet Protocol (IP) telephony, gaming services, high-definition mobile TV, video conferencing, three-dimensional space (3D) television and cloud computing.
The head of Commercial Stream Lead, Mr Fredrick Mloka, said here yesterday that the launch of 4G-LTE marks the beginning of the journey of TTCL transformation to make aggressive market penetration starting with 11 sites in Dar es Salaam Region.
He said the firm’s 4G LTE will be controlled by 11 towers built at strategic locations. The areas include Julius Nyerere International Airport, Pugu Road and General Post Office in the central business district. “Similar towers are available at Upanga, Kinondoni, Ubungo, Oysterbay, Mwenge, Mbezi Tangibovu, Mbezi Exchange, Kunduchi Salasala, Wazo Hill and Tegeta,” he said, noting that funds to implement the project have been sourced through the firm’s own internal sources.
“The Dar es Salaam project has been made possible through use of TTCL internal funds while waiting for the government guarantee to access loan from the TIB Development Bank. With the funds, TTCL will manage to erect more infrastructure to have 11 regions covered by the end of 2016,” he added.
A total of 266 towers are needed to cover the whole of Dar es Salaam Region.
By the end of 2016, a larger part of the other 10 regions and main roads after Dar es Salaam will be covered by high speed 4G-LTE and a limited coverage of 3G. The areas include Mwanza, Mbeya, Arusha, Dodoma, Mtwara, Tanga, Kilimanjaro, Iringa, Morogoro and Zanzibar.
The five-year business plan is to cover all regions in Tanzania and main roads and sell the 4G and bring data into Wi-Fi to make Tanzanians on the go, at home and in the office to enjoy fully the availability of TTCL networks.
“The wide coverage will make people enjoy reliable voice calls and with roaming they can notice the use of 3G and get 4G data as well as the enhanced fixed networks that continue to grow, “he said.
The execution of the business transformation will ultimately lead to the realisation of the fixed mobile convergence, a big differentiator that cannot easily be replicated by other operators.