Mobile market on steady rise

DAR ES SALAAM: TANZANIA’S mobile phone market is experiencing a surge in growth, with subscriptions climbing steadily across all major operators throughout 2024.

Statistics from the Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA) reveal impressive gains for industry giants like Vodacom, Tigo (now trading as Yas) and Airtel, alongside significant advances for other players such as Halotel, painting a picture of a dynamic and rapidly expanding telecommunications sector.

Vodacom with a 31 per cent share (up from 30 per cent in December 2023), saw its subscriber base climb by 22.4 per cent, from 21,506,939 in January to a substantial 26,327,611 by December.

This represents an increase of 4,820,672 customers during the year. Yas Tanzania, a close competitor with a 30 per cent share (up from 28 per cent in December 2023), increased its subscriptions by 28 per cent, from 19,816,518 to 25,419,851 over the same period, adding 5,603,333 customers-the most of any operator in 2024.

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Airtel, another network operator in Tanzania, operated by Airtel Africa, a subsidiary of Bharti Airtel of India, added 1,661,788 subscribers, moving from 18,399,283 to 20,061,071

. Despite this growth, Airtel’s market share dropped slightly from 27 per cent in December 2023 to 23 per cent in December 2024.

Halotel, a brand name for Viettel Tanzania Public Limited Company, demonstrated particularly impressive gains, with subscriber count jumping by 41.6 per cent, from 8.7 million in January to 12.3 million in December.

This growth boosted Halotel’s market share from 12 per cent in December 2023 to 14 per cent in December 2024.

State-owned TTCL, however, remained largely flat, with subscriber numbers almost unchanged, rising only slightly from 1,652,908 in January to 1,655,861 in December.

Overall, mobile phone subscribers in Tanzania increased significantly, from 70.3 million in December 2023 to 85.5 million in December 2024.