The Copperbelt Energy Corporation (CEC), which owns 50% shares in the CEC Liquid Telecom joint venture, said in terms of revenue, CEC Liquid Telecom and its retail arm Hai Telecommunication Limited "has been very strong" over the past six months despite stiff competition in the market.

According to the company's latest financial results, revenue from CEC Liquid Telecom and its retail division grew by 26% to US$16 million while net profit grew by 2% to US$1.007 million compared to the same period last year.

Paratus Telecom Zambia, FibreComm, Microlink Technologies and iConnect are some of the companies that are competing for market share.

CEC company secretary Julia Chaila said CEC Liquid Telecom's strong performance is on the back of a sustained growth in its customer base across wholesale, enterprise and retail products.

The company said it has invested over US$50 million to expand and improve it infrastructure in the expansion and improvement of its infrastructure since it started its operation in Zambia in 2011.

"CEC Liquid Telecom commenced and will continue to make impressive progress in the rollout of 4G LTE service to all the 10 provinces of the country. Retail internet penetration is expected to drive growth for the business as the company delivers quality services to the Zambian population," said Chaila.

In 2015, the company launched its Fibre-to-the-Home (FTTH) service to enable businesses and homes access fast broadband internet with unlimited data packages.

Over 20, 000 premises in the capital Lusaka have been connected to the FTTH service at a cost of US$15 million.

CEC Liquid Telecom also provides IP transit, backhauls, and disaster recovery and data protection services.