TTCL ‘still serious’ on smartphones

SAULI GILIARD

Chief Executive Officer, Waziri Kindamba

TALKS between the Tanzania Telecommunication Company Limited (TTCL) and potential investors to set up plants to make smart mobile phones and related gadgetry plant in the country are still underway.

At the launch of company’s mobile cash services which trades in the market as TTCL PESA on July, last year, its Chief Executive Officer, Waziri Kindamba broke the news, to show how the public firm ntended to ease communication across the country.

Yesterday, TTCL Communication Manager Thomas Mushi confirmed its resolve with the Daily News, saying that the firm “has not lost its focus” and that it was still engaged in a “series of discussion with Chinese investors.”

“Many Tanzanians do not own smartphones … it’s not because they don’t want to… they simply cannot afford buying the imported gadgets … this is why the government-owned TTCL wants to fill the gap by enabling all Tanzanians to own smartphones,” Mr Mushi said.

He added that TTCL wants to empower people to send pictures, video and voice using their own handsets – and producing within the country was the only way to realize that dream … all at affordable prices.

In July, 2017, The Daily News asked the TTCL CEO, Mr Kindamba on the firm’s planned investments, to which he responded: “It’s 25 per cent of $300m,” which works out to about $75m. Mr Kindamba was quoted by this newspaper as saying, “the advantage of producing phones and gadgets in the country is that an ordinary person can get own smartphones for as cheap as at 40,000/- to 50,000/-…. these are phones that we are buying at 100,000/- and above.”

At the launch of TTLC PESA in Dar es Salaam, he said that given the country’s focus on the industrialization, the public telecom company will set up plants to make affordable smartphones and related gadgets within this fifth phase government.

Early this year, China’s state-owned Datang Telecom International Technology company announced it was giving TTCL some $300m (over 600bn/-) to enable its technological capacity and become a leader in East and Central Africa’s communication industry.