The Zambia Telecommunication Company (Zamtel) plans to rolls out over 400 new 3G sites across the country this year in a bid to double its subscriber base to two million.
Zamtel, the country’s only fixed and mobile operator said it grew its subscriber base to one million last year and plans to double the number this year.
The company said it is planning to carry out extensive rollout of its 3G base stations this year alone.
The 3G base stations, the company said, are expected to boost internet penetration that has remained so low in the country.
“Over 400 new base stations are going to be commissioned and all of these are going to be 3G enabled. We hope this is going to help us double our customer base to two million and to boost internet penetration in the country,” said Mupanga Mwanakatwe, Zamtel chief executive officer.
However, Mwanakatwe refused to reveal how much the company has budgeted for the project that is expected to heighten competition in the provision of data services in the country.
Zamtel is the country’s third largest operator after Airtel Zambia and MTN Zambia. Airtel has about five million subscribers while MTN have just over 3.5 million customers. Both operators are already providing mobile internet services to their customers. Airtel said last week that it expects to commission more 3G base stations in the country this year.
Zamtel commercially launched its 3G services last year, enabling its subscribers to have higher speed mobile broadband access.
According to the Zambia Information and Communication Technology Authority (ZICTA), the country’s telecom sector regulator, the country only has about 11% internet penetration. Zambia has a population of 13.2 million people.
Share