Malawi cell group to spend $28m on network upgrade

Malawian mobile phone network operator TNM says it has set aside $28-million for the upgrading and expansion of its network in order to boost the quality of services and reach out to the rural areas of the Southern African country, which currently do not have access to mobile telecommunication services.

TNM, one of two cellular network operators in Malawi, is owned by a consortium whose major shareholder is Malawi's landline service provider, Malawi Telecommunications Limited (MTL), which, in turn, is owned by a consortium Press Corporation, as an equity partner, German's Detecon, as a technical partner, and South Africa's Standard Bank and Development Bank of Southern Africa, as financial partners.

TNM chief technical officer David Chetty says: "Our interest is to increase penetration by catering for the rural areas, which, currently, do not have access to cellphone services."

At 7%, Malawi has one of the lowest cellular-phone penetration rates in Africa. International research indicates that an additional 10% of mobile penetration leads to 1,5% increase in growth domestic product.

TNM and Celtel Malawi, a subsidiary of pan-African mobile network operator Celtel, share about 1-million active mobile-phone service subscribers in Malawi, which has a 12-million-strong population.

However, the Malawi government advertised for a third mobile network operator last year but has yet to grant a licence, despite receiving bids from five companies, with South Africa-based Econet Wireless and US-based Millennium Global Telecom seen as the frontrunners.

The Malawi government is also receiving applications from firms wishing to operate a fourth mobile network firm in the southern African country .

In order to ensure universal access to telecommunications facilities in the impoverished southern African country, the Malawi government has also just scraped import tax on mobile handsets.