Pyramid Research, a London based research company involved with global telecommunications, media and technology industries, has recently released a Tanzania telecom revenues’ growth forecast for the next five years, highlighting mobile networks’ expansion into new regions and voice services as the main drivers of growth.
The report called “Tanzania: Revenue Growth to be Underpinned by Mobile Network Expansion into Rural Areas” estimates the Tanzanian telecom sector to reach USD 1.3 billion in revenues by the end of 2015 with mobile voice services as the major revenue contributor totaling USD 845 million or 67% of the sector’s total revenue in the same period.
The telecoms sector’s overall revenue is expected to reach USD 1.6 billion by 2020 growing at a steady compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.5% per annum, above the world average telecom sector expected to grow at CAGR of 3.3% per annum.
In Tanzanian Shilling (TZS), the sector’s overall revenue would reach the TZS 2.8 trillion and mark a CAGR of 11.7% in the same period with Vodacom and Tigo accounting for 69.3% of the total revenue and up from 65% as of September, 2015.
According to the report, Tanzania’s telecom sector potential growth towards 2020 will be supported by the country’s large and fast growing population and heavy investments in mobile networks’ expansion in rural areas by the current licensed operators, to ensure adequate quality of services and strengthen their market share.
In Tanzania there are currently eight licensed telecom operators with the largest being Vodacom, Bharti Airtel Limited (Airtel) and Millicom International Cellular S.A. (Tigo), important holding 95% of the country’s market share as of September, 2015 according to Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA).
Since the sector’s liberalization in 2005, Tanzania telecom sector has grown from approximately 4 million voice subscribers to 35.9 million in September, 2015 according to TCRA latest statistics.
However, the sector has a potential growth of 35% to reach the 45 million subscribers within the next few years according to Reuters.
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