Two more mobile phone operators for Malawi

Malawi Communication Regulatory Authority (MACRA) has announced the awarding of operator licences to two more mobile phone operators in the country. The move has however been bashed by some existing operators in the business.

By Gregory Gondwe

14 Apr 2009

“There is no enough market room for five operators,” TNM CEO Werner Schrijver declared, “The best we can have are three operators to satisfy the market.”

“Today I stand to announce that Lacell Private Limited and Expresso Telecom Group Limited won [a] bid to add the total number of mobile operators to five in the country,” announced MACRA Board Chairman Thengo Maloya on Tuesday, 7 April 2009 at a press conference in Blantyre.

Prior to the announcement, the body issued a press release which said, after a careful and thorough scrutiny of the six bids received they had to settle for the two.

The new operators are expected to roll out their services by the end of the first half of 2010.

Gregory Gondwe

About Gregory Gondwe

Gregory Gondwe is a Malawian journalist who started writing in 1993. He is also a media consultant assisting several international journalists pursuing assignments in Malawi. He holds a Diploma and an Intermediate Certificate in Journalism among other media-related certificates. He can be contacted on moc.liamg@ewdnogyrogerg. Follow him on Twitter at @Kalipochi.