Halotel maintains its lead in internet

 

By Josephine Christopher

Josephine Christopher is a business reporter for The Citizen and Mwananchi newspapers.

Mwananchi Communications Limited

Summary

• The number of people using internet in the country continues to rise with latest figures showing that the number jumped to 31.3 million as of September this year, up from 29.2 million in June

Dar es Salaam. Halotel has maintained its position as the fastest internet provider in Tanzania in a latest report as operators compete to increase users.

According to the Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA), internet users increased by 6.7 percent to 31.1 million in the quarter to September, compared to 29.2 million users recorded in June.

A new report by Ookla which provides analysis of internet access performance metrics, shows that Halotel has delivered the fastest median download speed at 17.63 Mbps followed by Vodacom at 13.63 Mbps.

Airtel Tanzania comes third with a median download speed of 11.61 Mbps, followed by Zantel and Tigo each with 6.01 Mbps and TTCL with 5.12 Mbps.

According to the TCRA September report, with 13 percent of the market shareholding, Halotel is the fourth largest mobile network operator after Vodacom (30 percent), Airtel (28 percent) and Tigo (26 percent).

In the first and second quarters of 2022, the mobile operator was also leading with a median download speed of 17.84 Mbps and 17.12 Mbps, respectively.

Speaking to The Citizen, Halotel’s deputy managing director Thang Bui Van (pictured) said the company’s performance is backed by investments in the 4G networks and its deployment to the rural areas.

He said, “We also have a highly skilled technical team and staff to always maintain and ensure our network runs smoothly on a daily basis.” 
He said the firm plans to continue investing in the 4G network and that it currently has 1,700 4G Base Transmission Stations (BTS) sites, adding that more of the company’s investments will be directed towards infrastructure in efforts to increase the 4G network coverage. 

According to him, Halotel has 7.3 million subscribers, with approximately 55% of them using data. While costs continue to be one of the biggest concerns among internet users in the country, Mr. Van says his company is also designing its packages at affordable levels while observing the regulator’s directions. 
“We listen to customers in designing these packages while following the TCRA regulations, ensuring customers get the data service at an affordable price,” he said. 

Dar es Salaam is reported to have the fastest median mobile download speed among Tanzania’s most populous cities during the third quarter at 13.90 Mbps, followed by Mwanza with 13.45 Mbps, Arusha (11.29 Mbps), Mbeya (11.13 Mbps) and Dodoma (7.28 Mbps). 
A recent report by the TCRA showed that video streaming on Facebook and Youtube used more bandwidth (in GBs) for the July–September period in the country.