TANZANIA'S communications sector has experienced significant growth over the past four years, driven by improved infrastructure, efficient management, and fair competition among service providers, according to Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA)’s quarterly report.

The expansion includes an increase in mobile phone towers, enhancing services with advanced communication technologies. 

TCRA has played a crucial role in fostering competition, particularly in telecommunications, leading to expanded services, better accessibility, and broader adoption.

The government has launched projects to build new mobile phone towers and upgrade existing ones. In the 2024/2025 financial year, 758 towers are expected to be completed across 713 wards, improving communication in underserved areas of Mainland Tanzania.

 Construction began in 2023, along with the upgrade of 300 towers. Additionally, 42 towers have been built in 38 villages in Unguja and Pemba since 2022.

TCRA's quarterly report for October-December 2024 reveals that third-generation (3G) mobile systems have reached 12,762, 4G has expanded to 12,562, and fifth-generation (5G) systems have increased by 8 percent to 900, with expanded coverage in urban areas.

The report highlights the lack of a monopoly among service providers. As of December 2024, no mobile service provider—Airtel, Halotel, TTCL, Vodacom, or Yas—holds more than 32 percent of active SIM cards. However, Vodacom leads in machine-to-machine (M2M) technology, with 54 percent of all M2M SIM cards, totalling 1,066,566 out of 86,769,161 mobile SIM cards.

Over the past four years, M2M technology has been widely implemented, including in modern electricity meters and security cameras that transmit data remotely. Meanwhile, mobile call costs have dropped by 58 percent, from 63 shillings per minute in March 2021 to an average of 27/- in December 2024.

Dr Jabiri Bakari, TCRA's director general, attributed the decrease in user costs to a reduction in inter-network call connection fees, which have fallen from 15.60/- per minute in 2018 to 1.52/- this year.

He emphasised that service providers are competing to enhance customer satisfaction through innovation and improved services.

The government continues to emphasise the importance of affordable communication services, supporting initiatives to foster competition and allow citizens to better manage their communication costs. This competitive environment, driven by regulation, has been both a catalyst for growth and a result of the sector's expansion.

Efficiency improvements have also facilitated the expansion of decentralised services, offering citizens greater freedom to communicate and conduct transactions. Over the past four years of phase six, opportunities for citizens to enhance their lives through new services and technologies have increased rapidly.