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Telecommunications in Tanzania

February 15, 2024

Telecommunications in Tanzania include radio, television, fixed and mobile telephones, and the Internet available in mainland Tanzania and the semiautonomous Zanzibar archipelago.

Regulation and licensing edit

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.[1]

Under the Converged Licensing Framework four categories of license are available:[1]

  • Network facility, the provision of any element or combination of physical infrastructure used principally for, or in connection with, the provision of Content services and other Application services, but not including customer premises equipment;
  • Network service, a service for carrying information in the form of speech or other sound, data, text or images, by means of guided or unguided electromagnetic energy, but not including services provided solely on the customer side of the network boundary;
  • Application service, the reselling of electronic communication services to end users; and
  • Content service, a service offered for sound, data, text or images whether still or moving except where transmitted on private communication.

At the end of 2013 there were:[2]

  • 21 network facility operators: 8 international and national, 11 national, and 2 regional;
  • 17 network service operators: 8 international and national, 6 national, and 3 regional;
  • 91 application service operators: 1 international, 15 international and national, 62 national, 11 regional, and 2 district;
  • 85 radio content service operators: 6 national + commercial, 10 regional + commercial, 7 regional + non-commercial, 30 district + commercial, and 29 district + non-commercial;
  • 30 television content service operators: 5 national + commercial, 4 regional + commercial, 1 regional + non-commercial, 6 district + commercial, and 17 district + non-commercial.

A complete list of licensed operators and contractors is available from the Tanzania Communication Regulatory Authority (TCRA) website.[2]

Radio and television edit

  • A state-owned national radio station and more than 40 privately owned radio stations are in operation (2007).[3]
  • A state-owned TV station and multiple privately owned TV stations are in operation (2007).[3]
  • The transmissions of several international broadcasters are available (2007).[3]

There are government restrictions on broadcasting in tribal languages.[4]

The semiautonomous Zanzibari government controls the content of all public and private radio and television broadcasts in its islands. Even in the case of state television broadcast from the mainland, there was a delay in the feed, allowing Zanzibari censors to intervene. However, Zanzibari radio stations operate relatively independently, often reading the content of national dailies, including articles critical of the Zanzibari government.[4]

Telephones edit

See also: Telephone numbers in Tanzania
Mobile phone companies

Some of the mobile phone companies operating in Tanzania with market share as of December 2022 as published by the Tanzania Communication Regulatory Authority are:[7]

Internet edit

See also: Internet access in Tanzania
 
SEACOM-Network Map. Click on map to enlarge.
  • Top-level domain: .tz[3]
  • Internet users: 7.2 million users; 13.1% of the population, 182nd in the world (2016);[8]
  • Fixed broadband: 3,753 subscriptions, 164th in the world; less than 0.05% of the population, 187th in the world (2012).[9][10]
  • Wireless broadband: 698,531 subscriptions, 81st in the world; 1.5% of the population, 130th in the world (2012).[11]
  • Internet hosts: 26,074 hosts, 110th in the world (2012).[3]
  • IPv4: 846,152 addresses allocated as of 27 November 2014, 0.02 percent of the world total, 17.9 addresses per 1,000 people (based on the 2014 population estimate of 47.4 million).[12][13]

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.[14][15] 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.[16]

Internet service providers edit

Some of the Internet Service Providers operating in Tanzania are:[2]

  • Green Telecom
  • Flashnet
  • CTV-Faibafasta
  • SIMPLYCONNECT
  • Afsat Communications Tanzania Limited
  • Arusha Node Marie
  • Benson Online
  • BLINK BY GADGETRONIX
  • Cats-Net
  • Maisha Broadband
  • Kicheko
  • Raha
  • SimbaNet
  • Tansat
  • Tanzania Telecommunications Company Limited] (TTCL)
  • University of Dar es Salaam Computing Centre
  • Vizocom
  • ZanLink
  • ComNet-TZ

Data operators edit

Some of the data operators in Tanzania are:[2]

  • Green Telecom
  • Flashnet
  • Afsat Communications Tanzania Limited
  • SatCom Networks Africa Limited
  • SimbaNet
  • Startel Tanzania Limited, also known as raha
  • Tansat
  • Tanzania Telecommunications Company Limited (TTCL).

Censorship and surveillance edit

There are no government restrictions on access to the Internet; however, the government monitors websites that criticize the government. Police also monitor the Internet to combat illegal activities.[4]

Freedom of speech edit

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 250,000/= (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.[4]

The law generally prohibits arbitrary interference with privacy, family, home, or correspondence without a search warrant, but the government does not consistently respect these prohibitions. It is widely believed that security forces monitor telephones and correspondence of some citizens and foreign residents. The actual nature and extent of this practice is unknown.[4]

Under the Electronic and Postal Communications (Online Content) Regulations 2018, blogs, online forums, and internet radio and television operations, must register with the government as an online content provider, and pay an annual fee. The fee is roughly equivalent to the annual income in Tanzania.[17] 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.[18][19]

See also edit

References edit

  •   This article incorporates public domain material from The World Factbook (2024 ed.). CIA. (Archived 2014 edition)
  •   This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the United States Department of State.
  1. ^ a b "Licensing Information" 2020-08-11 at the Wayback Machine, Tanzania Communication Regulatory Authority. Retrieved 23 January 2014.
  2. ^ a b c d "Licensed Operators and Contractors", Tanzania Communication Regulatory Authority.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Communications: Tanzania", World Factbook, U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, 7 January 2014. Retrieved 22 January 2014.
  4. ^ a b c d e "Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2017". www.state.gov. Retrieved 2018-08-01.
  5. ^ Dialing Procedures (International Prefix, National (Trunk) Prefix and National (Significant) Number) (in Accordance with ITY-T Recommendation E.164 (11/2010)), Annex to ITU Operational Bulletin No. 994-15.XII.2011, International Telecommunication Union (ITU, Geneva), 15 December 2011. Retrieved 2 January 2014.
  6. ^ "SEACOM Network" 2016-11-21 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 23 January 2014.
  7. ^ "COMMUNICATIONS STATISTICS REPORT : Quarter ending December 2022" 2023-06-08 at the Wayback Machine, Tanzania Communication Regulatory Authority. Retrieved 01 August 2023.
  8. ^ . Archived from the original on 2017-07-21. Retrieved 2017-07-24.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  9. ^ Calculated using penetration rate and population data from "Countries and Areas Ranked by Population: 2012" 2017-03-29 at the Wayback Machine, Population data, International Programs, U.S. Census Bureau, retrieved 26 June 2013
  10. ^ "Fixed (wired)-broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants 2012", Dynamic Report, ITU ITC EYE, International Telecommunication Union. Retrieved on 29 June 2013.
  11. ^ "Active mobile-broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants 2012", Dynamic Report, ITU ITC EYE, International Telecommunication Union. Retrieved on 29 June 2013.
  12. ^ "CIPB - Allocation of IP addresses by Country". www.countryipblocks.net. Retrieved 2018-08-01.
  13. ^ "National Bureau of Statistics | Statistics for Development". www.nbs.go.tz. Retrieved 2018-08-01.
  14. ^ SEACOM Knowledge Centre FAQ 2011-04-23 at the Wayback Machine
  15. ^ . Archived from the original on 1 August 2018. Retrieved 28 November 2014.
  16. ^ "Download speed graph for Tanzania, September 2008 to present", Broadband Performance, Google Public Data Explorer. Retrieved 23 January 2014.
  17. ^ . Peril of Africa. 15 April 2018. Archived from the original on 11 September 2019. Retrieved 25 April 2018.
  18. ^ Dahir, Abdi Latif (10 April 2018). "Tanzania social media and blogging regulations charge to operate online". Quartz. Retrieved 2018-04-25.
  19. ^ (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on June 24, 2019. Retrieved April 24, 2018.

Further reading edit

External links edit

  • Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority
  • The Electronic and Postal Communications (Online Content) Regulations, 2018 2019-06-24 at the Wayback Machine
  • tzNIC, registry for the .tz domain

February 15, 2024
telecommunications, tanzania, include, radio, television, fixed, mobile, telephones, internet, available, mainland, tanzania, semiautonomous, zanzibar, archipelago, contents, regulation, licensing, radio, television, telephones, internet, internet, service, pr. Telecommunications in Tanzania include radio television fixed and mobile telephones and the Internet available in mainland Tanzania and the semiautonomous Zanzibar archipelago Contents 1 Regulation and licensing 2 Radio and television 3 Telephones 4 Internet 4 1 Internet service providers 4 2 Data operators 4 3 Censorship and surveillance 5 Freedom of speech 6 See also 7 References 8 Further reading 9 External linksRegulation and licensing editIn 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 1 Under the Converged Licensing Framework four categories of license are available 1 Network facility the provision of any element or combination of physical infrastructure used principally for or in connection with the provision of Content services and other Application services but not including customer premises equipment Network service a service for carrying information in the form of speech or other sound data text or images by means of guided or unguided electromagnetic energy but not including services provided solely on the customer side of the network boundary Application service the reselling of electronic communication services to end users and Content service a service offered for sound data text or images whether still or moving except where transmitted on private communication At the end of 2013 there were 2 21 network facility operators 8 international and national 11 national and 2 regional 17 network service operators 8 international and national 6 national and 3 regional 91 application service operators 1 international 15 international and national 62 national 11 regional and 2 district 85 radio content service operators 6 national commercial 10 regional commercial 7 regional non commercial 30 district commercial and 29 district non commercial 30 television content service operators 5 national commercial 4 regional commercial 1 regional non commercial 6 district commercial and 17 district non commercial A complete list of licensed operators and contractors is available from the Tanzania Communication Regulatory Authority TCRA website 2 Radio and television editA state owned national radio station and more than 40 privately owned radio stations are in operation 2007 3 A state owned TV station and multiple privately owned TV stations are in operation 2007 3 The transmissions of several international broadcasters are available 2007 3 There are government restrictions on broadcasting in tribal languages 4 The semiautonomous Zanzibari government controls the content of all public and private radio and television broadcasts in its islands Even in the case of state television broadcast from the mainland there was a delay in the feed allowing Zanzibari censors to intervene However Zanzibari radio stations operate relatively independently often reading the content of national dailies including articles critical of the Zanzibari government 4 Telephones editSee also Telephone numbers in Tanzania Calling code 255 3 International call prefix 000 5 Main lines 161 100 lines in use 133rd in the world 2011 3 Mobile cellular 27 2 million lines 39th in the world 2012 3 Telephone system telecommunications services are marginal fixed line telephone network inadequate with less than 1 connection per 100 persons system operating below capacity and being modernized for better service Very Small Aperture Terminal VSAT system under construction mobile cellular service aided by multiple providers is increasing rapidly and in 2011 exceeded a subscriber base of 50 telephones per 100 persons trunk service provided by open wire microwave radio relay tropospheric scatter and fiber optic cable some links being made digital 2010 3 Communications cables landing point for two fiber optic cables 2010 SEACOM submarine and terrestrial high speed fibre optic cable linking the countries of the east and west coasts of Africa to each other and on to Europe and India 6 and the EASSy fiber optic submarine cable system linking East Africa with Europe and North America 3 Satellite earth stations 2 Intelsat 1 Indian Ocean 1 Atlantic Ocean 2010 3 Mobile phone companiesSome of the mobile phone companies operating in Tanzania with market share as of December 2022 as published by the Tanzania Communication Regulatory Authority are 7 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 editSee also Internet access in Tanzania nbsp SEACOM Network Map Click on map to enlarge Top level domain tz 3 Internet users 7 2 million users 13 1 of the population 182nd in the world 2016 8 Fixed broadband 3 753 subscriptions 164th in the world less than 0 05 of the population 187th in the world 2012 9 10 Wireless broadband 698 531 subscriptions 81st in the world 1 5 of the population 130th in the world 2012 11 Internet hosts 26 074 hosts 110th in the world 2012 3 IPv4 846 152 addresses allocated as of 27 November 2014 0 02 percent of the world total 17 9 addresses per 1 000 people based on the 2014 population estimate of 47 4 million 12 13 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 14 15 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 16 Internet service providers edit Some of the Internet Service Providers operating in Tanzania are 2 Green Telecom Flashnet CTV Faibafasta SIMPLYCONNECT Afsat Communications Tanzania Limited Arusha Node Marie Benson Online BLINK BY GADGETRONIX Cats Net Maisha Broadband Kicheko Raha SimbaNet Tansat Tanzania Telecommunications Company Limited TTCL University of Dar es Salaam Computing Centre Vizocom ZanLink ComNet TZData operators edit Some of the data operators in Tanzania are 2 Green Telecom Flashnet Afsat Communications Tanzania Limited SatCom Networks Africa Limited SimbaNet Startel Tanzania Limited also known as raha Tansat Tanzania Telecommunications Company Limited TTCL Censorship and surveillance edit There are no government restrictions on access to the Internet however the government monitors websites that criticize the government Police also monitor the Internet to combat illegal activities 4 Freedom of speech editThe 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 250 000 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 4 The law generally prohibits arbitrary interference with privacy family home or correspondence without a search warrant but the government does not consistently respect these prohibitions It is widely believed that security forces monitor telephones and correspondence of some citizens and foreign residents The actual nature and extent of this practice is unknown 4 Under the Electronic and Postal Communications Online Content Regulations 2018 blogs online forums and internet radio and television operations must register with the government as an online content provider and pay an annual fee The fee is roughly equivalent to the annual income in Tanzania 17 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 18 19 See also editTanzania Communication Regulatory Authority Tanzania Internet eXchange Terrestrial fibre optic cable projects in Tanzania Media of Tanzania List of newspapers in TanzaniaReferences edit nbsp This article incorporates public domain material from The World Factbook 2024 ed CIA Archived 2014 edition nbsp This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the United States Department of State a b Licensing Information Archived 2020 08 11 at the Wayback Machine Tanzania Communication Regulatory Authority Retrieved 23 January 2014 a b c d Licensed Operators and Contractors Tanzania Communication Regulatory Authority a b c d e f g h i j k Communications Tanzania World Factbook U S Central Intelligence Agency 7 January 2014 Retrieved 22 January 2014 a b c d e Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2017 www state gov Retrieved 2018 08 01 Dialing Procedures International Prefix National Trunk Prefix and National Significant Number in Accordance with ITY T Recommendation E 164 11 2010 Annex to ITU Operational Bulletin No 994 15 XII 2011 International Telecommunication Union ITU Geneva 15 December 2011 Retrieved 2 January 2014 SEACOM Network Archived 2016 11 21 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 23 January 2014 COMMUNICATIONS STATISTICS REPORT Quarter ending December 2022 Archived 2023 06 08 at the Wayback Machine Tanzania Communication Regulatory Authority Retrieved 01 August 2023 Archived copy Archived from the original on 2017 07 21 Retrieved 2017 07 24 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint archived copy as title link Calculated using penetration rate and population data from Countries and Areas Ranked by Population 2012 Archived 2017 03 29 at the Wayback Machine Population data International Programs U S Census Bureau retrieved 26 June 2013 Fixed wired broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants 2012 Dynamic Report ITU ITC EYE International Telecommunication Union Retrieved on 29 June 2013 Active mobile broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants 2012 Dynamic Report ITU ITC EYE International Telecommunication Union Retrieved on 29 June 2013 CIPB Allocation of IP addresses by Country www countryipblocks net Retrieved 2018 08 01 National Bureau of Statistics Statistics for Development www nbs go tz Retrieved 2018 08 01 SEACOM Knowledge Centre FAQ Archived 2011 04 23 at the Wayback Machine EASSy Enters Commercial Service EASSy 5 August 2010 accessed 28 November 2014 Archived from the original on 1 August 2018 Retrieved 28 November 2014 Download speed graph for Tanzania September 2008 to present Broadband Performance Google Public Data Explorer Retrieved 23 January 2014 Tanzania Bloggers to be charged 900 average annual income per year for right to speak Peril of Africa 15 April 2018 Archived from the original on 11 September 2019 Retrieved 25 April 2018 Dahir Abdi Latif 10 April 2018 Tanzania social media and blogging regulations charge to operate online Quartz Retrieved 2018 04 25 THE ELECTRONIC AND POSTAL COMMUNICATIONS ONLINE CONTENT REGULATIONS 2018 PDF Archived from the original PDF on June 24 2019 Retrieved April 24 2018 Further reading editSuhail Sheriff July 2007 Rural Access Options and Challenges for Connectivity and Energy in Tanzania PDF Sharing With Other People Network SWOPnet International Institute for Communication and Development IICD p 40 Suhail Sheriff March 2007 Rural connectivity in Tanzania Options and challenges PDF International Institute for Communication and Development IICD p 16 External links editTanzania Communications Regulatory Authority The Electronic and Postal Communications Online Content Regulations 2018 Archived 2019 06 24 at the Wayback Machine tzNIC registry for the tz domain Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Telecommunications in Tanzania amp oldid 1187796842, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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