TMCEL launched the second phase of the telecoms network extension and modernization program in January 2022. The company wants to improve its network in order to establish itself in the national market that it competes with Vodacom and Movitel.
Mozambique’s historic telecommunications operator TMCEL has deployed 770 new base stations as part of the second phase of the expansion and modernization program for its telecommunications network, which is 57% complete. This was revealed by senior company officials and the media last week.
Also as part of network modernization and expansion, TMCEL upgraded its fiber optic backbone and installed new equipment to activate customers and monitor the network. The company has established points of presence for Internet provision in 95% of the country and started updating Business Support Systems (BSS).
It was in January 2022 that TMCEL launched the second of the telecoms network extension and modernization program in partnership with the Swedish technology company Ericsson. The initiative is part of the public company’s ambition to establish itself as the main telecommunications operator in Mozambique in the coming years, ahead of its competitors Vodacom and Movitel.
Now, TMCEL’s network covers all provinces of Mozambique with 4G and 4.5G technologies, with the exception of Niassa, bringing its overall availability to 97% compared to 86% at the start of the project. Additionally, bandwidth capacity has increased from 10 to 400 gigabits per second (Gb/s).
On the other hand, TMCEL’s ambitions to conquer the market could be slowed down by the financial difficulties the company is facing. Between 2017 and 2021, the company saw its mobile subscriber base fall by 69% to around 2 million, according to data from the Communications Regulatory Authority of Mozambique (INCM).