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.