Rwandan Operator Signs Up 120,000 Customers in Three Weeks

Rwandan mobile operator, Rwandatel says that it signed up 120,000 new subscribers in the three weeks since it switched on its 3G and GSM network. The firm already operated a CDMA network but decided to switch to a GSM based 3G service following its acquisition by Libya's LAP Green Networks last year.

Rwandatel's CEO, Patrick Kariningufu, said that the subscriber figure reflected the level of the 'active subscribers' Rwandatel had as of 21th December 2008. The company has a target of 600,000 subscribers by the middle of this year.

There had been local reports that some 55,000 people had signed up in the first week of the new network - which had lead to shortages of SIM cards and phones in retail outlets.

LapGreen Networks, a subsidiary of the Libyan African Investment Portfolio, owns 80% of Rwandatel. The company early this year, signed a US$35 million deal with Huawei to revamp its landline network and replace its public switched telephone network with a 3G network.

LapGreen, which is the majority shareholder in Uganda Telecom (UTL), also has operations in Uganda, Togo, Niger, Rwanda, Ivory Coast and Gabon.

According to figures from the Mobile World analysts, the sole rival network, MTN ended last September with 988,000 subscribers on its GSM network. Last month, Millicom was granted the country's third mobile license after paying US$60 million for the 15 year license.

Posted to the site on 5th January 2009