Telecoms improving as third mobile operator gets set for launch

Telecommunications – an essential element in the logistics chain – is improving rapidly in Mozambique, with a third mobile operator launching a test phase in June this year. Recent analysis from Frost & Sullivan found that Mozambique currently has around 4.5 million mobile subscribers. By 2015, this could reach 30.7 million at a compound annual growth rate of 30%. The advantage to the freight and logistics industries will be that this growth will support the roll-out of infrastructure throughout the country, and into the more isolated rural areas. The chairman of Telecomunicações de Moçambique (TdM), Teodato Hunguana, told delegates at a meeting of the Southern Africa Telecommunications Association (Sata) earlier this year that cellular phone penetration had reached nearly 33%. “The availability of telecommunications and information technologies is no longer a luxury that can only be accessed by the wealthy and privileged, and is now an essential part of how normal society operates.” That level of penetration will be mainly in the urban areas – over 90% of university students have cell phones according to another study – which means that growth will come from the smaller towns in the rural areas. Movitel, which joined the state-run MCel and Vodacom in the market this year, said in a statement that its network covered all the provinces and cities in the country. In a year, it built more than 1000 stations with 2G and 3G technology connected by 5 500 kilometres of fibre-optic cable.