Tanzania Telecom Sector Welcomes Dovetel Limited Affiliate Sasatel

According to a report by The Citizen, the Tanzania telecom sector has recently welcomed Dovetel Limited, trading as Sasatel, as the country’s seventh mobile services operator.

It has been indicated by the company through a recent press release that the commercial launch of the new network will take place in the country’s commercial capital of Dar es Salaam followed by the extension of its network in gradual phases.

As of the day of its launch, the new network already covered the majority of the city, including the entire central business district, the Kariakoo area, Ilala, Mikocheni, Mbagala and Buguruni.

The current plan for the next phase of operations includes the expansion of the network to include other parts of the country as well.

A recent press release that was given by Dovetel specifically indicated that the next phases of the network expansion would be to cover the entirety of Dar es Salaam and to subsequently begin spreading out to other regions in the country.

“In the next phase of network expansion, the company will cover the rest of Dar es Salaam and all other major cities in Tanzania,” read the press release, “Dovetel is committed to roll out a network with full coverage in Dar es Salaam in the first phase followed by Arusha and other regions in the second phase.”

Dovetel was originally founded in 2005 by a local businessman, Professor Peter Chitamu, who acquired funding for the project from the Infrastructure Fund, who currently still holds a 65 percent stake in the company.

Last June, Dovetel received licensing by the country’s National telecoms regulator, the Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA) and today Sasatel has a license for voice and data services, internet service provision and international gateway services.

Sasatel is planning to offer its services over a CDMA network that will provide high speed internet connections as well as the option of pre-paid packages.

“Right now, we can offer fixed-wireless phones that have internet connectivity capabilities as well as mobile phones at attractive prices. All our fixed-wireless phones have data capabilities,” said Christopher Haeger, the managing director and chief marketing officer for Sasatel, as reported by The Citizen.

In addition to these services, the company’s marketing and public relations manager, Derick Byarugaba has also indicated that the services to be offered by the company will soon include both Wi-Fi enabled routers and broadband EV-DO modems for high speed internet access.