ARUSHA Region leads Tanzania Mainland regions in terms of the ratio of registered SIM cards to its population, according to latest communications statistics.
Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA), statistics show Arusha with estimated population of 1.8 million people has 3,263,398 SIM cards equivalent to 1.8 ratio meaning a resident in the northern tourist region owns two cards.
Dar es Salaam with an estimated population of more than six million people has 9,102,203 active SIM cards equivalent to 1.5 ratio.
The quarterly statistics show that Mwanza, with a population of 3,826,573, comes second after Dar es Salaam, with 3,376,532 registered Sim cards.
The national total 56,153,097 registered Sim cards. Ten regions have each registered more than two million Sim cards.
Others, with their estimated population in brackets are Tabora 3,000,849 (2,291,623); Mbeya 2,961,516 (2,204,543); Morogoro 2,945,790 (2,730,058); Dodoma 2,864,302 (2,647,410), Kilimanjaro 2,211,867 (1,951,252), Tanga 2,098,929 (2,449,235) and Geita 2,050,124 (2,434,800).
However, according TCRA the number of registered Sim cards exceeds that of individual users due to the possibility of multiple SIM card ownerships.
Regulations allow the registration of up to five Sim cards for various uses, including voice, data and financial transactions. Poor and limited access also drives users to have backup Sim cards.
Some corporate organizations’ communications policies require employees to use a dedicated mobile number for official communication; hence an individual’s need for an additional SIM card.
The map below shows the number of registered SIM cards across Tanzania.