The Tanzania communications sector currently plays and will continue to play a major role in contributing to the social and economic development of the country.
Until 1993, the Tanzania Posts and Telecommunications Corporation (TPTC) held a monopoly in the provision of communications and was responsible for the regulation of this sector.
The Communications Act was enacted as part of the government’s move to liberalize the communications sector in the country.
Since then, the Tanzania Posts and Telecommunications Corporation was split into three different entities: the Tanzania Posts Corporation (TPC), the Tanzania Telecommunications Company Limited (TTCL) and the Tanzania Communication Commission (TCC).
Furthermore, in 1997 the National Telecommunications Policy (NTP) was launched.
Today, the Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) sector in Tanzania is completely liberalized and competition has grown in mobile cellular services, radio paging, internet services and data communications services.
Due to the convergence of technology and services, the Tanzania Communication Commission and the Tanzania Broadcasting Commission (TBC) were merged in 2003, to form the Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA).
The objective of the TCRA is to regulate telecommunications, broadcasting and postal matters in Tanzania as well as to further improve the regulatory framework by promoting effective competition and economic efficiency, protecting the interests of consumers, regulating rates and tariffs, and monitoring the performance of the sector.
The Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority has also approved a Converged Licensing Framework (CLF), which allows operators to offer any type of services with the technology of their choice with one single license.
The licenses are technology-neutral and service-neutral.
Following such convergence in licensing, Tanzania’s telecommunication sector has become more appealing to both Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and domestic capital, and is becoming one of the country’s fastest growing sectors.
Since liberalization, the sector’s performance has continued to grow and to modernize, by increasing the number of operators and competition, leading to increased provision of services and reduction on tariffs.
It is now widely agreed that all the sectors will soon be performing better.
According to Prof. John S. Nkoma, Director General of the Tanzania Communication Regulatory Authority, within such a framework, “the most interesting opportunities for Foreign Direct Investment are to be found in Information Communication Technologies’ infrastructure development, services and applications.”