TANZANIA: TCRA ISSUES LICENCES TO TWO COMMUNICATION FIRMS

TCRA Director General, Prof. John Nkoma.

The Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA) has granted licences of operation to two communication companies - Smart Banking Solutions Limited and WiAfrica Tanzania Limited with the call to adhere to the regulations in order to provide the people with the best services.

TCRA Director General, Prof. John Nkoma, said in Dar es Salaam on Friday evening that the two companies had been given the licences after meeting the requirements, saying the companies should therefore continue to stick to the regulations.

He was speaking during the ceremony to hand over the licences to the companies to operate in the country. WiAfrica Tanzania- Corporate Communications Manager, Mr Pius Mtei, said the licence would allow the company to deploy and operate stateof- the-art 4G communication networks in the whole territory of the country.

"We look to promote quality of service so as to improve quality of life through Digital Inclusion Strategy with the vision of developing a 'smart country'," he said.

Mr Mtei said countries with a wide availability of broadband connectivity could advance their economies on a local and global scale, adding that in today's society, jobs and education are directly related to the broadband connectivity.

"WiAfrica believes that wireless broadband is a must in Africa in order to get affordable connectivity to the businesses, education and general population. WiAfrica Tanzania feels that it is high time now to join hands with the government in moving forward in reaching the vision 2025," he said.

In his remarks, Smart Banking Solutions Limited, Chief Technical Officer, Mr Roberty Mng'anya, said they were looking forward to working with financial institutions especially the banks to facilitate the banking operations.

"The B-Pesa, which is one of our products, is currently doing great in the market. We are planning to work with banks to improve banking operations," he said.

The Minister for Communications, Science and Technology, Prof. Makame Mbarawa, on Wednesday hailed TCRA for ensuring market fair play among telecommunication operators thus facilitating offering of standard services to consumers. "Several African countries have praised us of having a good regulatoryauthority.

TCRA is doing a good job," said the Minister while addressing the 48th meeting of African Advanced Level Institute (AFRALTI). Prof. Mbarawa noted that the market players are supposed to offer value to the customers to improve the quality of services and innovating solutions that transform people's lives.