Tanzania Mobile Subscriptions Surge by 3M in 3 Months, Smartphone Usage Hits 30%, and Mobile Money Users Jump by 4M

TikTok Tanzania use June 2023

The Tanzania Communication Regulatory Authority (TCRA) has recently released its Communication Statistics for Q3 2023 which provide information on the performance of the telecom sector.

Telecom Subscriptions

TCRA indicates that the number of telecom subscriptions in September 2023 reached 67.1 million, up from 64.1 million in June 2023, representing a quarterly increase of 4.7%, with a significant increase in subscriptions of around 3.1 million.

Mobile subscriptions represented 99.87% of all subscriptions.

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Vodacom commanded the largest market share with 20,555,763 subscriptions, followed by Airtel with 18,485,232 subscriptions, Tigo with 18,181,259 subscriptions, Halotel with 8,266,320 subscriptions, TTCl with 1,621,049 subscriptions, and Smile with 7,826 subscriptions.

No operator in Tanzania has a market share greater than 35%, which is a minimum significant level for a dominant operator, indicating healthy competition among operators.

Tanzania Operators Subscriptions Market Shares – September 2023

As of September 2023, the penetration of mobile phones was 83.6%, while that of smartphones was 30.7%.

Mobile Money Subscriptions

Mobile money subscriptions increased from 47.3 million accounts in the quarter ending June 2023 to 51.4 million accounts in the quarter ending September 2023.

In its report, TCRA did not disclose the value of mobile money transactions, which reached TZS 140.9 trillion in 2022.

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Tanzania Mobile Money Operators Market Share – September 2023

Vodacom M-Pesa has a larger share of 37% of mobile money accounts in the market, followed by Tigo Pesa at 30%, Airtel Money at 22%, Halotel Halopesa at 8%, while TTCL T-Pesa has the market share of 3%. Smile does not offer mobile money services.

The number of mobile money transactions for this quarter has been growing at an average of 3% per month.

Mobile money transactions increased from 420,675,884 in June to 422,390,546 in September 2023, recording a 0.4% growth.

In its report, TCRA did not disclose the value of mobile money transactions, which reached TZS 140.9 trillion in 2022.

Internet Subscriptions

Total monthly internet subscriptions reached 34,469,022 in September 2023, compared to 34,047,407 in June 2023.

Mobile wireless accounted for 99.7% of all internet subscriptions (34,393,866), followed by fixed wired, and fixed wireless.

Tanzania Internet Subscriptions 2018-September 2023

Want to know more about Telecoms in Tanzania? Our free overview of the Tanzania Business and Investment Guide 2026 covers Telecoms, plus key sectors and investment opportunities. The complete 141-page edition includes policies, taxation, key regulations, full macroeconomic data, and sources.

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