AMOTEL GETS LICENCE

Professor Robert Mabele- The Board Chairman, Mkulima African Telecom Company Limited, MTC-AMOTEL receives the certificate from Director General of TCRA, Prof. John Nkoma (centre) in Dar es Salaam on Friday. Looking is TCRA Director of Legal Affairs, Ms Elizabeth Nzagi.

The Board Chairman, Mkulima African Telecom Company Limited , MTC-AMOTEL, Professor Robert Mabele- speaks with reporters in during the award licencing ceremony held at Head Office of TCRA, Mawasiliano Tower in Dar es Salaam on Friday.

TCRA Communications Manager, Mr Innocent Mungy speaks to welcome guests for the ceremony.

Professor Robert Mabele- The Board Chairman, Mkulima African Telecom Company Limited, MTC-AMOTEL clarifies a point to reporters during the ceremony.

TCRA Senior officials during  the ceremony.

TCRA Senior officials during  the ceremony.

Director General of TCRA, Prof. John Nkoma speaks before presenting certificates to Mkulima African Telecom Company Limited, MTC-AMOTEL in Dar es Salaam on Friday.

The Board Chairman, Mkulima African Telecom Company Limited, MTC-AMOTEL, Professor Robert Mabele clarifies a point to reporters during the ceremony.

The Board Chairman, Mkulima African Telecom Company Limited , MTC-AMOTEL, Professor Robert Mabele (second right) in a group Photo with other MTC-AMOTEL staffs during the award licencing ceremony held at Head Office of TCRA, Mawasiliano Tower in Dar es Salaam on Friday. Right is the CEO of MTC-AMOTEL, Dr Sinda Hussein Sinda, National Marketing Manager, Mr Edward Shigula (centre), Head of Commercial, Elibariki Massawe and Director of Legal and Corporate Affairs, Maria Mkemwa.

THE NEW TELECOM COMPANY GETS A LICENSE TO ENTER THE TANZANIAN MARKET

Tanzania Telecommunication Regulatory Authority has issued a license to a new telecom company called Mkulima African Telecommunication Company (MTC) Limited. The company is the first Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) in Tanzania. The company will trade under the brand name "African Mobile Operators Telecom-(AMOTEL)". According to AMOTEL Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Sinda Hussein Sinda told the journalists that   MVNO Business model is a recent phenomenon in African telecom markets. However, the business model is growing faster especially in mature telecom markets in many developing countries. Dr. Sinda further clarified that an “MVN” provides mobile services to end-users without owning its own frequency spectrum; a radio access network (RAN) and backhaul network, as it buys such capacity from a host MNO. The MVNO may or may not own core network assets – such as Home Location Register (HLR), Mobile Switching Centre (MSC) and Gateway GPRS Support Node (GGSN) but its essential network assets are a service delivery platform and a Business Support System (BSS) for Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and Billing. The degree of freedom available to the MVNO to differentiate itself via innovative services and pricing depends on the breadth of the core network platform it operates and the agreements contracted with the host MNO. Also commonly handled within the MVNO framework are “second brands” of incumbent MNOs and “branded resellers” that resell an MNO’s products and services under their own brand and are essentially a specialized marketing and sales channel.

In addition, an MVNO is a business model that emerges when the traditional mobile value chain is ruptured. Seemingly saturated markets, increasing competition and higher end-user expectations with regard to quality-of-service (QoS) and innovation – along with greater sophistication and heterogeneity/diversity in terms of end-user service and content demand – are the current market challenges facing today’s mobile operators in Tanzania. While experiencing cost pressures, ever-increasing technological complexity and shortage of skills and resources, they need to identify new ways of real differentiation and unique value proposition, outperforming their competitors on time-to-market. That is why; new players (MVNOs) can participate in the mobile value chain and extract value leveraging their valuable assets. It is against this background, the Management of Mkulima African Telecom Co Ltd (MTC) launches its MVNO under the business name or brand name “AMOTEL”.

During the license award ceremony held at TCRA head office Mawasiliano Tower yesterday, the Chairman of the governing board of AMOTEL, Prof. Robert Mabele, said that the company  plans to officially start operations this year 2015.  This company is wholly owned by the local Tanzanians, namely Professor Robert Mabele (Reputable Economist & majority shareholder), Mr. Elibariki Naumu Masawe (majority shareholder) and he is a successful business man in Dar es Salaam.  Other shareholders include Dr. Sinda Hussein Sinda (the current CEO & shareholder), Hon. Said Mtanda (Member of Parliament), Mr.  Philemon Mangu (telecom guru), Mr. Goodwill Nambaya (IT specialist), Mrs Maria Nimrod (Lawyer), Mrs Angelina Felician, Nordic Foundation Tanzania and Xelon Insurance Limited. Speaking at the license award ceremony, the TCRA Director General, Prof. John Nkoma cautioned  a new licensee that the telecom industry in Tanzania has reached a turning point characterized by stiff competition. He advised the new actors in the industry to abide by the rules, regulations and guidelines issued by TCRA.