Zamtel upbeat about climbing to top slot as Zambia’s largest network provider
Zambia’s state owned telecoms provider Zamtel says it is confident of jumping to the number 1 position as the country’s largest network provider when ongoing investments into core network upgrade are completed. Zamtel currently occupies the third slot after Airtel and MTN.
As part of its US$280 million investment in the network, Zamtel is installing 1009 new communication towers and upgrading existing ones which will see the company stand at 1,793 sites, more than any other network provider in the country. The firm is also modernizing its Woodlands Technical Center in Lusaka at a cost of K7 million by transforming it into a Cloud Data Centre.
Zamtel is also rehabilitating and modernizing Lamya House in Lusaka at a cost of K30 million and upgrading its power solutions and also transforming it into a Cloud Data Centre. Additionally, the company is putting up a new state of the art Call Centre whose works are 75% complete aimed at improving customer care.
Zamtel Corporate Communications Manager Kennedy Mambwe disclosed – in a radio interview – that the projects have been initiated to improve coverage, increase capacity and place Zamtel at the centre of the country’s digital transformation. He said the company is confident that the network improvement projects will catapult Zamtel into the number slot in about 30 months after the ongoing works are done.
“If you have been in Zambia for a long time, you will realize that of the three operators, one of them was number one, they are no longer number one; they are on number two position, Why? Because there is movement in numbers. We may be third placed right now but guess what, anyone who is really watching the trends must be worried about Zamtel because of the momentum at which we are moving we will soon most likely be number one and that is not like a farfetched idea, it’s a reality,” Mr Mambwe said.
“I don’t want to be a Prophet but I can make a statement of fact that once we are done with these projects, Zamtel is going to climb to the top slot as the number one network provider in this nation.”
He further described the year 2017 as phenomenal for the company.
“The growth has been great. In February of this year, the company was struggling to pay certain bills and to meet certain obligations but there has been a complete turnaround; the performance has been great both in numbers and revenue and we have been able to meet our commitments to institutions such as the Zambia Revenue Authority.”
Mr. Mambwe has since assured that Zamtel will continue on this growth trajectory in 2018.
“We went past the 2 million mark and we were upbeat about ending the year at 2.5 million subscribers but we may not end the year with that. By the time we switch on all the sites we are rolling out we will be able to accelerate our growth, perhaps double our growth, within a short space of time because we have put in a number of strategies and interventions to make sure we are catapulted into the numbers that we are looking at.”
Source: Zamtel
