Telecommunications in Tanzania

Telecommunications in Tanzania include radio, television, fixed and Mobile phones which remain the most widely used communication devices in Tanzania, supported by an expanding mobile network infrastructure and affordable prepaid services. Internet service are available in mainland of the country and the semiautonomous of Zanzibar archipelago.

Regulation and licensing

In 2005, mainland Tanzania, but not the semiautonomous Zanzibar archipelago, modified its licensing system for electronic communications, modelling it on the approach successfully pioneered in Malaysia in the late 1990s where traditional "vertical" licenses (the right to operate a telecom or a broadcasting network, and right to provide services on that network) are replaced by "horizontal" licenses (the right to operate telecom and broadcasting networks, with a separate license required to provide services on each network). Called the "Converged Licensing Framework (CLF)", this reform was the first of its kind put into practice on the African continent, and allows investors to concentrate on their area of expertise (i.e. network facility, network services, application services, and content services) across a larger number of previously separate sectors (i.e. telecommunications, broadcasting, Internet). This reform should, among other things, facilitate the arrival of telephone services over cable television networks, television services over telecommunications networks, and Internet services over all types of networks.

Under the Converged Licensing Framework four categories of license are available:

Radio and television

A state-owned national radio station and more than 40 privately owned radio stations are in operation (2007).
A state-owned TV station and multiple privately owned TV stations are in operation (2007).
Main lines: 161,100 lines in use, 133rd in the world (2011). and
the EASSy fiber-optic submarine cable system linking East Africa with Europe, and North America.
Vodacom Tanzania 30%
Airtel Tanzania 28%
MIC Tanzania Limited (Tigo Tanzania) formerly Mobitel 26%
Viettel Tanzania Limited (Halotel) 13%
Tanzania Telecommunications Company Limited 3%
Smile Communications Tanzania 0%

Internet

thumb|SEACOM-Network Map. Click on map to enlarge.

Top-level domain: .tz
Fixed broadband: 3,753 subscriptions, 164th in the world; less than 0.05% of the population, 187th in the world (2012).
Wireless broadband: 698,531 subscriptions, 81st in the world; 1.5% of the population, 130th in the world (2012).
Internet hosts: 26,074 hosts, 110th in the world (2012).

Internet services have been available since 1995, but there was no international fiber connectivity available until 2009. Before then, connectivity to the rest of the world, including to neighboring countries, was obtained using satellite networks. The SEACOM and the Eastern Africa Submarine Cable System submarine fiber cable projects were implemented in July 2009 and July 2010, respectively, and brought higher speed Internet connectivity to Tanzania with lower latency and lower cost. This resulted in more than an eight-fold improvement in download speeds from between 90 and 200 kbit/s in mid to late 2008 to between 1.5 and 1.8 Mbit/s in late 2009 with further improvements to between 3.6 and 4.2 Mbit/s in 2013.

Internet service providers

Some of the Internet service providers operating in Tanzania are:

Freedom of speech

The constitution provides for freedom of speech, but does not explicitly provide for freedom of the press. A permit is required for reporting on police or prison activities, and journalists need special permission to attend meetings in the Zanzibar House of Representatives. Anyone publishing information accusing a Zanzibari representative of involvement in illegal activities is liable to a fine of not less than TSh  (US$158), three years' imprisonment, or both. Nothing in the law specifies whether this penalty stands if the allegation is proven true. Media outlets often practice self-censorship to avoid conflict with the government. Online content providers may not post obscene or explicit content, hate speech, content that "causes annoyance", incites harm or crime, or threatens national security and public safety. Violators may be fined or have their licences revoked.

References

External links

Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority
The Electronic and Postal Communications (Online Content) Regulations, 2018
tzNIC , registry for the .tz domain