Why internet speeds in Tanzania still lag behind
What you need to know:
- There are business challenges in the market where for a while the competition has centred on lowering the cost of services as a way of capturing market share.
Dar es Salaam. The industry regulator and a leading telecom company have sought to explain the relatively low internet speeds in Tanzania.
A survey by Ookla – a web service that provides free analysis of internet access performance metrics such as connection data rate and latency – analysed the performance of operator groups, including Airtel, Orange, MTN and Vodacom, in sub-Saharan Africa during the second quarter of 2022.
MTN South Africa delivered the fastest median download speed at 65.95 megabits per second (Mbps), followed by Vodacom South Africa at 48.71 Mbps, according to the report.
Vodacom Tanzania was ranked 16th at 17.08 Mbps, while Airtel Tanzania was ranked 18th at 12.89 Mbps.
Vodacom Tanzania was ahead of only Airtel Rwanda (15.21 Mbps); Airtel Tanzania, Airtel DR Congo (11.15 Mbps); Vodacom DR Congo (8 Mbps) and MTN Guinea (2.89 Mbps) among operators involved in the survey.
“In Tanzania, there was no clear winner as Vodacom won the download speed and Airtel the upload,” the report said.
Airtel and Vodacom’s upload speed stood at 9.02 Mbps and 8.62 Mbps, respectively.
Tanzania’s mobile market is served by six operators, namely Vodacom, Airtel, Tigo, Halotel, TTCL and Smile, but only two featured in Ookla’s report.
Vodacom Tanzania accounted for 31 percent of the 56.2 million subscribers that were registered by June 2022, followed by Airtel at 27 percent, according the Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA).
Vodacom Tanzania network director Andrew Lupembe told The Citizen at the weekend that download speeds could be improved further by investment in capacity.
He said there are business challenges in the market where for a while the competition has centred on lowering the cost of services as a way of capturing market share.
This, added Mr Lupembe, necessitated the regulator’s intervention and introduce the data floor pricing, with price harmonisation coming into effect on August 1.
“We are not there yet and this is one of the most critical things to look at if this market is to have the speeds available in other countries such as Kenya.
“To address the speeds, we need to correct data pricing that will allow investment and build network capacity,” Mr Lupembe said.
At Vodacom, he added, there are ongoing engagements regarding tariffs that will open opportunities for accelerated investment in the country.
Mr Lupembe expressed the company’s commitment to continue investing in network expansion to address the communications need in the country.
To further increase its network reach, in May 2022, Vodacom Tanzania signed a deal with the National ICT Broadband Backbone (NICTBB), a national fiber optic cable network.
This will allow Vodacom to increase rural connectivity after an initial investment of €5.82 million ($6.22 million) in October 2021.
Furthermore, in September 2022, Vodacom launched 5G mobile service in Dar es Salaam with a target to expand to approximately 230 locations in other cities.
Asked on why the firm should not focus on improving their current 2G, 3G and 4G instead of rushing to launch 5G, Mr Lupembe said 5G has different use cases that prompted them to pursue it.
One of the use cases of 5G includes, Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) which corresponds to the internet needs of homes, small offices and businesses alike, he said.
Mr Lupembe added that 5G technology brings great benefits to the country by accelerating the 4th industrial revolution and promoting new services and products by new and existing investors.
“We continue to invest on 4G acceleration on coverage and capacity. Important to note is that it is not always the case that one has to fully cover one technology before moving to another. Different technologies use cases address different consumer needs when it comes to internet usage.”
Efforts to reach Airtel Tanzania for comment proved futile.
TCRA director general Jabiri Bakari said he was not aware of circumstances under which the Ookla’s study was carried out.
However, he said, as the regulator, they were creating an enabling business environment for telcos to do better when it comes to download speed.
“The kind of license that we issue to operators allows them to deploy any kind of technology they want,” Dr Bakari told The Citizen by telephone at the weekend.
“And now we are providing them with more spectrums for 4G and 5G so that they can broaden their coverage.”
Internet in Tanzania is ranked among the cheapest in Africa.
