Tigo Tanzania’s Pioneer 4G LTE Launch Offers Robust Data Connectivity, Enhances Enterprise Mobility

The 4G LTE technology is about five times faster than the 3G technology currently available in the Tanzanian market

Tigo subscribers in Tanzania can now enjoy the fastest internet connection following the unveiling of the company’s 4G LTE service in the country. The 4G LTE technology is about five times faster than the 3G technology currently available in the Tanzanian market.

The 4G LTE network offers faster and higher speeds of data transfer, faster response times from the network and increased overall network capacity. It significantly enhances the customer experience for video streaming or conferencing and can accommodate more applications such as high definition content, video blogs, interactive games and video downloads on social networking sites.

Commenting on the launch in a press conference in Dar es Salaam, Tigo Tanzania General Manager, Diego Gutierrez, lauded the 4G LTE as ‘the first of its kind in Africa’ and reiterated the telecom’s commitment in improving the quality and coverage of its network and bring world-class digital products and services to Tanzania.

In this East African country where digital infrastructure is steadily taking shape, the news on Tigo Tanzania’s 4G launch is sweet music to the ears of the country’s 67% of the population that, according to the Tanzania Communication Regulation Authority (TCRA), has mobile phones.

The Tigo Tanzania 4G LTE means that Tigo customers will, unlike with the currently available 3G network, be able to surf at faster speeds, download content from the internet and make skype calls from their mobile phones and laptops. It will further enable Tigo customers to wade through high-data connection because it ensures real-time sharing of large files and media streaming. More so, it has a near-immediate delivery of time-sensitive data such as real-time interaction or transactions.

“The Tigo 4G has been a God-sent to me because, unlike the 3G that I have been using before, I can now do video streaming without the video getting stuck; the network access has no buffering and the skype calls are much better and clearer”, says Isaac Ernest, a Social Communications Consultant based in Dar es Salaam.

His comments were echoed by Hellen Elibariki, a Tour Guide based at the Northern Tanzanian tourism city of Arusha, popularly known as ‘the Geneva of Africa’; which has been the latest beneficiary of the Tigo 4G services.

Says Ms Elibariki: “working in the tourism industry means I have local and international contacts that need fast and efficient communication. The Tigo 4G has really simplified my communication with my contacts because now am able to transfer large data faster, conduct clearer and seamless skype calls and give my contacts, especially prospective tourists, large amounts of up-to-the-minute information about our services and this has started boosting our business”.

On his part, Gutierrez assured Tigo subscribers whose customer base currently stands at 10 million, that the telecom will continue offering more innovative and tailor-made digital services.

Gutierrez said: “Tigo once again demonstrates its commitment to promote digital lifestyle transformation and its leadership in delivering cutting-edge technology and innovations in its market”. Early this year, the company announced an increased annual investment of US $ 120 million per year on infrastructure improvement and expansion which is 20% higher that Tigo’s annual spend in the past three years.

Besides pioneering the 4G LTE, Tigo Tanzania boasts of several “firsts” in digital innovation technology. They include the first Facebook in Kiswahili (the country’s national language), Tigo-Pesa (mobile money) App for Adroid and iOs users, Tigo Music (Deezer), Tigo Back up and East Africa’s first cross-border money transfer with currency conversion.

With a burgeoning middle-class that constitutes over two-thirds of the population and a GDP growth rate of 7.6%, the Tanzanian economy promises bright prospects for continued growth of the communications sector which at 20% annual growth rate is ranked as the fastest in the country’s economy.