Airtel Africa gets first payment from Tanzania deal
05 January 2022
Airtel Africa received its first payment of US$159m from selling its mobile phone tower assets in Tanzania, the operator said.
The US$176.1m sale of circa 1,400 Tanzanian towers was agreed in June last year with a buyer made up by a joint venture owned by US-based SBA Communications Corp and UK-based Paradigm Infrastructure.
The balance of the sale payment will be made in instalments once the transfer of the remaining towers is completed.
Airtel said around US$60m of the proceeds will be invested in network and sales infrastructure in Tanzania and for distribution to the government of Tanzania, with the balance used to reduce group debt.
Find out more South Sudan: MTN and NuRAN Wireless finalise agreement for 250 new telecom sites
04 January 2022
Remote and more impoverished areas of South Sudan are being targeted
MTN South Sudan and Canadian mobile wireless infrastructure solutions provider NuRAN Wireless have finalised an agreement to roll out 250 telecom sites via a "build, operate and transfer" revenue-sharing model over the next 24 months in rural areas of the country.
The agreement is the next step of an initial memorandum of understanding signed in July last year and Diatile Zondo, MTN South Sudan's chief financial officer, said the partnership with NuRAN Wireless is in line with the company's vision to provide a connected life for everyone, especially in rural areas.
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Zimbabwe's mobile telecom revenue rises 15.8%
04 January 2022
The Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (Potraz) data showed mobile telecoms operators’ revenues increased by 15.8% to US$19.5bn during the third quarter of 2021.
The performance was also boosted by a rise in active mobile telephone subscriptions, which increased by 3,4% to 13,9 million during the review period, compared to 13.5 million during the second quarter of 2021.
This translated to a 2.2% rise in mobile phone penetration rate to 93.5% compared to 91.3% during the previous quarter.
Find out more Senegal fines operators following QoS audit
04 January 2022
Senegalese watchdog ARTP (L’Autorite de Regulation des Telecommunications et des Postes / Regulation Authority for Telecommunications and Posts) has fined the country’s three mobile providers a total of US$35m.
A regulatory audit carried out between August and November this year found that Expresso Senegal, Saga Africa Holding’s Free, and Orange’s Sonatel had all breached their licence terms by failing to meet obligations relating to quality of service and coverage. The operators have respectively been fined CFA1.028bn, CFA2.258bn and CFA16.727bn.
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