The aftermath of the 1994 genocide and a monopolistic market structure until 2006 have weighed on the Rwandan telecommunications sector, but the country is now rapidly catching up with other markets in Africa.

Mobile market penetration is still significantly below the regional average. The country has been slow to liberalise the sector, allowing South Africa’s MTN a monopoly until 2006 and licensing a third network (Millicom) only at the end of 2008. A fourth network may be licensed in 2010 or soon thereafter. The prospect of intensified competition has sparked a new subscriber growth phase with nearly 100% per annum, but at the same time the average revenue per user has fallen significantly below US$10 per month.

The fixed-line incumbent and second mobile operator, Rwandatel has launched third generation mobile services, with MTN expected to follow shortly. Both Rwandatel and MTN are rolling out national fibre backbone networks which also allow them to connect to international submarine fibre optic cables on the African east coast. Seacom, the first such cable landed in mid 2009, giving the entire region fibre-based international bandwidth for the first time and bringing to an end its dependency on satellites.

These developments will revolutionise Rwanda’s Internet and broadband sector which has suffered from limited fixed-line infrastructure and high prices. The price for international Internet bandwidth is expected to plummet to a fraction of the current level. Several ISPs are rolling out WiMAX wireless broadband networks. They have adopted VoIP Internet telephony although the technology has not yet been officially deregulated, which potentially turns them into converged fixed-wireless voice and data/broadband service providers. Both MTN and Rwandatel have also adopted WiMAX to complement their mobile data services.

To know more and to buy a copy of your report feel free to visit:
http://www.bharatbook.com/detail.asp?id=115460&rt=Rwanda-Telecoms-Mobile...

Or

Contact us at :

Bharat Book Bureau
Tel: +91 22 27578668
Fax: +91 22 27579131
Email: info@bharatbook.com
Website: www.bharatbook.com
Follow us on twitter: http://twitter.com/3bbharatbook