Airtel Tanzania unveils grand expansion plan

President Jakaya Kikwete and the Bharti Airtel managing director, Mr Sam Elangalloor hold the Airtel symbol during the official rebranding of Zain Tanzania to Airtel Tanzania in Dar es Salaam Dar es Salaam.  India’s Bharti Airtel has launched the rebranding of Zain Tanzania by announcing new strategies aimed at expanding its network reach and increase its market penetration.To achieve this, the company has signed agreements with telecommunications infrastructure suppliers Ericsson, Huawei and Nokia Siemens Networks to extend its networks to areas that are currently underserved. “We are aiming to increase our subscriber base by 150 per cent by 2013 to 100 million customers across Africa. That growth will stimulate economies and create thousands of direct jobs and connect communities,” Airtel managing director Sam Elangalloor told a press conference in Dar es Salaam. As part of a strategy to rope in more subscribers in rural areas, the company also announced a package for which subscribers will pay Sh39,000 and get a Nokia 1280 mobile phone, Airtel SIM card and the equivalent value in Airtel talk time and SMS text messages. Airtel, which has taken over Zain operations in 16 African countries, said it would in the next few weeks unveil various other products. “Access to mobile communications will give people the freedom to achieve their goals in life, transforming how people communicate and how communities interact. Delivering on that opportunity through affordable and available mobile communications for everyone is focus,” Airtel Tanzania marketing director Cheikh Sarr said. This is the third time the mobile network operator is rebranding.  It was first known as Celtel Tanzania which was founded in 2001, before the name changed to Zain Tanzania.The rebranding comes four months after Bharti Airtel’s takeover of Zain operations in Africa. Mobile penetration in Tanzania is currently about 50 per cent. However, limited coverage and high cost of handsets and user fees are among major constraints, especially to people in rural areas. Gracing the Airtel Brand launch on Monday evening, President Jakaya Kikwete said he was encouraged by the company’s vision to offer affordable services targeting the rural population and reiterated the government’s commitment to ensure an enabling environment for the growth of this important sub-sector.