$6m project to expand Tanzania telecom services

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Monday, March 03, 2014 

BY KENAN KALAGHO, EAST AFRICAN BUSINESS WEEK, KAMPALA, UGANDA

DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania - Tanzania Telecommunication Company (TTCL) and Universal Communication Service Access Fund (UCSAF) have agreed to improve basic telecom services in rural areas in a $6 million project.
The World Bank is channeling the money through UCSAF.
According to the TTCL Chief Executive Officer Kamugisha Kazaura, the project is expected to start soon and will see about 33 constituencies with around 202 villages and involving some 3000,000 people being connected.
 “Our aim is to make sure that every constituency and village that was lacking telecommunication for long time, to have that access,”  Kazaura said.
He said implementation of the project will to the greater extent help to reduce poverty in the rural areas.
He said that most of these areas where the project is expected to be carried out are not well developed and therefore difficult for business opportunities to flourish due to lack of telecommunication links.
Services being planned  include mobile internet connections.
According to the TTCL Chief of Marketing and Sales, Peter Ngota , the project will be implemented with effectiveness.
It will cover 16 regions in the country including Arusha, Tabora, Iringa, Kagera, Manyara, Dodoma, Lindi, Mbeya, Morogoro and Mtwara,
Other regions includes Mwanza, Pwani, Ruvuma, Shinyanga, Singida  and Tanga. It is expected to be implemented in eight months from last month.