Burundi subscriber base totals 480,000 at 2008-end, up 78%
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Burundi’s ended 2008 with a mobile subscriber base of 480,000, a rise of 78%, driven by network coverage expansion and growing competition in the sector.
ARTC, the telecoms regulator, expects a subscriber base of 700,000 by 2012. According to its annual report, Burundi which has a population of 8 million, posted a subscriber base of 270,000 in 2007. The operators who had their coverage limited to the capital Bujumbura have expanded their investment to the countryside to have a larger subscriber base.
The report further reveals that the earnings by the country’s four incumbents grew to BIF 33.2 billion in 2008, up from BIF 25 billion in 2007.
U-com posted a subscriber base of 344,830 at the end of 2008 and the remaining subscribers were divided among other three operators Onamob, Africell and Econet. ARCT main aim at present is to cut tariffs so that mobile phones become more accessible to low income people.
