Tanzania Telecommunications Corporation, formerly Tanzania Telecommunications Company Limited (TTCL), is the oldest and largest

fixed line A landline (land line, land-line, main line, home phone, fixed-line, and wireline) is a telephone connection that uses metal wires or optical fiber telephone line for transmission, as distinguished from a mobile cellular network, which uses ...

telecommunications company A telephone company, also known as a telco, telephone service provider, or telecommunications operator, is a kind of communications service provider (CSP), more precisely a telecommunications service provider (TSP), that provides telecommunicat ...

in Tanzania. The company comes forth from the former Tanzania Posts and Telecommunications Corporation in 1993. TTCL was wholly owned by the

Government of Tanzania The politics of Tanzania takes place in a framework of a unitary presidential democratic republic, whereby the President of Tanzania is both head of state and head of government, and of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the ...

until the partial

privatisation Privatization (also privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation when ...

of the company on 23 February 2001. TTCL is governed by

statute A statute is a formal written enactment of a legislative authority that governs the legal entities of a city, state, or country by way of consent. Typically, statutes command or prohibit something, or declare policy. Statutes are rules made by le ...

—the

Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands and ...

Telecommunications Telecommunication is the transmission of information by various types of technologies over wire, radio, optical, or other electromagnetic systems. It has its origin in the desire of humans for communication over a distance greater than that fe ...

Act of 1993. The company is licensee for fixed basic telephone services in Tanzania

mainland Mainland is defined as "relating to or forming the main part of a country or continent, not including the islands around it egardless of status under territorial jurisdiction by an entity" The term is often politically, economically and/or dem ...

and

Zanzibar Zanzibar (; ; ) is an insular semi-autonomous province which united with Tanganyika in 1964 to form the United Republic of Tanzania. It is an archipelago in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of the mainland, and consists of many small islands ...

and hence it owns and operates the

public switched telephone network The public switched telephone network (PSTN) provides Communications infrastructure, infrastructure and services for public Telecommunications, telecommunication. The PSTN is the aggregate of the world's circuit-switched telephone networks that ...

in mainland Tanzania and on

. Before the coming of mobile operators in late 1994, the company was enjoying monopoly on Tanzania Mainland and a

duopoly A duopoly (from Greek δύο, ''duo'' "two" and πωλεῖν, ''polein'' "to sell") is a type of oligopoly where two firms have dominant or exclusive control over a market. It is the most commonly studied form of oligopoly due to its simplicit ...

, where Zanzibar Telecoms Limited (Zantel) was the second licensed fixed basic telephony operator. The company has been in several joint managements due to its financial instability in the past and has gone through several restructuring phases. It has been working with Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd as the infrastructure

vendor In a supply chain, a vendor, supplier, provider or a seller, is an enterprise that contributes goods or services. Generally, a supply chain vendor manufactures inventory/stock items and sells them to the next link in the chain. Today, these terms ...

of the company and

Ericsson (lit. "Telephone Stock Company of LM Ericsson"), commonly known as Ericsson, is a Swedish multinational networking and telecommunications company headquartered in Stockholm. The company sells infrastructure, software, and services in informat ...

as a long-term strategic supplier of the company.

History

Early history

TTCL traces its roots to the East African

telecommunications Telecommunication is the transmission of information by various types of technologies over wire, radio, optical, or other electromagnetic systems. It has its origin in the desire of humans for communication over a distance greater than that fe ...

provider. In 1933, the former East African Post and Telegraph Company covered Postal, Telegraph and Telephone services in the three East African nations of

Tanganyika Tanganyika may refer to: Places * Tanganyika Territory (1916–1961), a former British territory which preceded the sovereign state * Tanganyika (1961–1964), a sovereign state, comprising the mainland part of present-day Tanzania * Tanzania Main ...

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

and

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territor ...

. In 1951 the British government replaced the East African Post and Telegraph Company and enacted the East African Posts and Telecommunication Act in 1951 to charter the East African Posts and Telecommunications Administration. In 1967, post independence of the three nations, the

East African Community The East African Community (EAC) is an intergovernmental organisation composed of seven countries in the Great Lakes region of East Africa: the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the United Republic of Tanzania, the Republics of Kenya, Burundi, ...

(EAC) was founded and replaced the East African Common Service Organization. In the aftermath, the East African Post and Telecommunications Corporation (EAP&TC) was established and replaced the East African Posts and Telecommunications Administration. However, ten years later, the breaking up of EAC in 1977 forced EAC member countries to re-establish their own national Postal, Telegraph and Telephone businesses. Therefore, in 1978 in Tanzania a parastatal was established under the name Tanzania Posts and Telecommunications Corporation (TPTC). In 1993 when the government of Tanzania heavily restructured parastatals, the Telecommunication sector was liberalised. This saw the splitting up of the TPTC; the TPTC split into three separate entities, namely the

Tanzania Posts Corporation Tanzania Posts Corporation is the company responsible for postal service in Tanzania and was established in 1994. It is headquartered in Kivukoni ward of Ilala MC in Dar es Salaam. History German Postal Services A German postal agency w ...

, the Tanzania Telecommunications Company Limited (TTCL), and the Tanzania Communication Commission (TCC).

Partial privatisation

With increased domestic competition and poor management the government decided to privatise the company. The partial

of TTCL began on 23 February 2001, with

Celtel International Celtel was a telecommunications company that operated in several African countries. It was founded by Sudanese-born Mo Ibrahim. History Originally known as "MSI Cellular Investments", the company began operating in 1998. In January 2004, the ...

(previously known as MSI Cellular) headquartered in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, together with the German firm Detecon, obtained 35%

shares In financial markets, a share is a unit of equity ownership in the capital stock of a corporation, and can refer to units of mutual funds, limited partnerships, and real estate investment trusts. Share capital refers to all of the shares of an ...

from the

. The consortium took over Board and Management control of TTCL, and 23 February 2001 onward, had a veto over major Board of directors decisions, right to appoint the

senior management Senior management, executive management, upper management, or a management is generally individuals at the highest level of management of an organization who have the day-to-day tasks of managing that organization—sometimes a company or a corpor ...

, to set the annual

business plan A business plan is a formal written document containing the goals of a business, the methods for attaining those goals, and the time-frame for the achievement of the goals. It also describes the nature of the business, background information on t ...

and to control all

capital expenditure Capital expenditure or capital expense (capex or CAPEX) is the money an organization or corporate entity spends to buy, maintain, or improve its fixed assets, such as buildings, vehicles, equipment, or land. It is considered a capital expenditure ...

decisions. The Regulatory Design Problem Revisited: Tanzania’s Pioneering Position in Africa In August 2005, TTCL pulled out from joint management and the

and

signed an agreement whereby the shareholders agreed to the restructuring of the two companies and thereafter the TTCL and the

Celtel Celtel was a telecommunications company that operated in several African countries. It was founded by Sudanese-born Mo Ibrahim. History Originally known as "MSI Cellular Investments", the company began operating in 1998. In January 2004, the ...

became legally, financially and operationally totally separate companies.

SaskTel

In 2006, TTCL faced a number of financial and operating issues that threaten the long term viability of the company. In February 2007, shareholders awarded a Canadian firm,

SaskTel Saskatchewan Telecommunications Holding Corporation, operating as SaskTel, is a Canadian crown-owned telecommunications firm based in the province of Saskatchewan. Owned by the provincial government, it provides wireline and wireless communicati ...

, a three-year executive management contract to lead a technology, financial, operational and cultural transformation of TTCL. The contract required the new senior management team to improve the long term competitive position of TTCL and grow its customer and revenue sources. SaskTel International assume leadership of TTCL in July 2007. However, a disagreement between SaskTel and the majority shareholder on the long term capital funding plan of TTCL, negotiated by SaskTel to support the growth plan, resulted in SaskTel submitted a 45-day notice of termination on 12 July 2009, effectively ending the management contract. While the TTCL Board of Directors approved the financing plan, the majority shareholders refused to support the plan resulting in the SaskTel senior management team officially leaving the organization in September 2009. .

Transfer of shares

In September 2013 Celtel's Parent Company MTC Group was acquired by Zain International BV of Kuwait. Along with the celtel brand, Zain also acquired the 35% share in TTCL. From the 2005 agreement Celtel and TTCL were considered separate legal entities and therefore, Zain had no direct control over the companies operations. Similarly on 8 June 2010,

Bharti Airtel Bharti Airtel Limited, commonly known as (d/b/a) Airtel, is an Indian multinational telecommunications services company based in New Delhi. It operates in 18 countries across South Asia and Africa, as well as the Channel Islands. Currently, ...

struck a deal to purchase of mobile operations in 15 African countries from Zain and inherited the stake.

Nationalization

In February 2016,

owner of 35 percent stake in the state telecom company agreed to sell its shares back to the government for TSh 14 billion. The dispute between the company and the government lasted for three years as the company demanded more money in compensation. However, the sale was concluded on 23 June 2016 and the company returned to being entirely state owned.

Corporate affairs

Ownership

Currently the company is wholly owned by the Government. In 2001 the government of Tanzania sold 35% stake in the company and in 2016 to protect the firm, repurchased the stock to regain 100 percent ownership. The last partners of the company were

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

Business trends

As of March 2016 TTCL has the smallest subscriber base than the top six mobile phone operators in the country. TTCL maintains a total subscriber base of 305,000 of which 45 percent have fixed phone lines. In the fixed line market, TTCL almost has a monopoly and handles over 99 percent of the subscribers.

Headquarters

The company has its headquarters and

customer care Customer service is the assistance and advice provided by a company to those people who buy or use its products or services. Each industry requires different levels of customer service, but in the end, the idea of a well-performed service is that ...

allocated in the Extelecom's Building in Samora Avenue, east of

Kisutu Kisutu is an administrative ward in the Ilala District of the Dar es Salaam Region of The United Republic Of Tanzania. In 2016 the Tanzania National Bureau of Statistics report there were 10,404 people in the ward, from 8,308 in 2012. Gove ...

, south east of

Dar es Salaam Dar es Salaam (; from ar, دَار السَّلَام, Dâr es-Selâm, lit=Abode of Peace) or commonly known as Dar, is the largest city and financial hub of Tanzania. It is also the capital of Dar es Salaam Region. With a population of over s ...

, east

. Tanzania Telecommunications Company Limited also manages and operates offices and engineering departments in all regions and major towns in the country.

References

External links

Tanzania Agrees To Buy Back Bharti Airtel's Stake In State Telecom
{{authority control Telecommunications companies of Tanzania Government-owned companies of Tanzania Economy of Dar es Salaam Telecommunications companies established in 1993 1993 establishments in Tanzania Tanzanian brands Mobile phone companies of Tanzania