Tanzania's Vodacom hits 10 mln subscribers

DAR ES SALAAM - Vodacom Tanzania, part of South Africa's Vodacom Group, increased its users to 10 million this month from 9 million in March this year, it said on Monday.

Ranked the largest mobile phone operator in east Africa's second biggest economy, Vodacom said its M-Pesa money transfer service had more than 2 million customers, double the number in 2009.

M-Pesa has been highly successful in neighbouring Kenya where the biggest operator, Safaricom, has over 9 million active users on the same service.

Tanzania's mobile phone subscribers rose 20 percent to 21 million last year as a vicious price war pushed tariffs down.

Mobile phone penetration in Tanzania stood at 47 percent last year, the communications regulator said.

Communications is the fastest-growing sector in Tanzania, accounting for 20 percent of gross domestic product in the country.

Other major players in Tanzania's mobile phone industry are Bharti Airtel, Millicom's subsidiary Tigo Tanzania and Zantel.

Some smaller companies such as state-run telecoms firm TTCL, Sasatel and Benson, have tiny share of the market.

Earlier this month, Vodacom named immediate former managing director of Airtel Kenya Rene Meza its managing director.

Source: Reuters