Mobile operator Millicom Tanzania, which operates under the brand name Tigo, plans to invest USD70 million in the expansion of its network this year, in order to meet rising demand for mobile data services. Local newspaper The Citizen cites the company as saying that it spent USD75 million last year, with the funds invested in the deployment of 535 new 3G sites and the upgrade of 408 existing base stations with 4G technology. Last month Tigo expanded its LTE network to Singida, bringing the total number of towns and cities with 4G coverage to 23. ‘As we continue to grow, network expansion and modernisation is mandatory for provision of quality services,’ commented Tigo’s CTIO Jerome Albou, adding: ‘The demand for data services is growing due to availability of data enabled devices. Therefore, we are expanding [the] 3G and 4G network in both rural and semi-urban areas of the country.’
At the end of last year Millicom Tanzania filed a draft initial public offer (IPO) prospectus with the Capital Market and Securities Regulatory Authority (CMSA), after the government made it a legal requirement for telecoms operators to float 25% of their shares on the Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange (DSE). The mobile operator, which had 10.4 million customers at the end of March 2017, is waiting for approval to proceed with its IPO.