The Malawian government is considering allowing more mobile network operators to roll out services to improve competition and reduce the prices of digital services. The move is in response to growing consumer concern about the high cost and quality of internet services from the two major service providers, Airtel Malawi and Telekom Networks Malawi (TNM).
The Information and Communication Technology Minister Shadric Namalomba made the disclosure at one of the parliamentary sessions recently. He responded to questions raised by South Lilongwe Constituency MP Francis Belekanyama on the issue of tariff increase by these operators.
The Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (MCA) last Friday intervened, forcing Airtel Malawi and TNM to pay the affected subscribers who had been affected by the revised tariffs, which were not observed after the seven day notice. The regulator pointed out that the sudden adjustment of data tariffs rate from 26 June to 2 July was a violation of the regulations.
Airtel Malawi and TNM have been criticised for their frequent problems of dropped calls, slow internet, and poor network performance. In response to these challenges, the government is fining operators for breaches of regulations.
The decision to provide licenses to other operators is intended to reduce the dominance of Airtel and TNM in the market and create a competitive environment that will offer consumers better prices. Namalomba said the government will see to it that the costs of digital services are reduced.
In this regard, he said that the government has already implemented some of the policies, including a 50% cut in the cost of spectrum licenses and assistance from the US$150 million Digital Malawi Acceleration Project. The project’s purpose is to improve the mobile tower infrastructure, including those areas which require additional coverage.
But plans to introduce new operators have been delayed. For example, the third largest mobile operator in Malawi, Malcel, has yet to go on sale despite plans to do so by the end of 2023. Their launch has been delayed by economic problems, and they haven’t announced any new launch date yet.
In the same vein, Nyasa Mobile, which was licensed in 2022, has been affected by economic challenges and still hasn’t announced a commercial launch date.
Since getting licensed in 2007 as Zero2, Access Communications has been unable to penetrate the market to the extent of its competitors Airtel Malawi and TNM, as it has managed to serve a marginal number of customers with a focus on big cities.
