Vodacom celebrates a decade of Success
Vodacom Tanzania has handled over 20 million transactions worth 600bn/- since Vodafone M-Pesa services were launched in 2008, the company’s Managing Director, Dietlof Mare said on Sunday.
He said that at the moment there are over 5.5 million subscribers who have registered for Vodafone M-Pesa services. He was addressing editors and senior reporters during the 10th anniversary of Vodacom Tanzania.
“Vodafone M-Pesa is a monetary service that has revolutionized the way Tanzanians do business. We have over 5000 agents countrywide”, he said.
As the services expand, over 80,000 transactions are done daily and monthly transfers are now approaching 100bn/-.
Over the past ten years, Mare further said, Vodacom has improved its services to become a company that provides quality services at the lowest cost, thus offering the best value in the market.
“We have the lowest tariffs with 1 shilling per second to Vodacom and 3 shillings per second to other networks and a myriad of other services that add value to our customers. The proof is that while prices have dropped dramatically, customers are making three times more calls in our network”, he said.
With over 8.5 million customers, Vodacom has also heavily invested in world class network technology, spending 1 trillion shillings on GSM/GPRS/EDGE, 3G/HSPA and WiMax network coverage.
The world class network coverage enables customers to experience more speed with 2G and 3G catering for individuals and with WiMax Vodacom has been able to cater for the needs of businesses and corporate entities.
He added that it could not have been possible without a reliable transmission network with huge capacity and thus Vodacom has 6,500 kilometers of microwave and fiber network in Dar es Salaam and Dar es Salaam to Dodoma where Vodacom main switches are, making it the only operator with such transmission network.
According to Mare, Vodacom has also been giving back to the community through the activities of Vodacom Foundation, which has spent over 3 billion shilling in supporting communities in areas of health, education, social welfare, environment and Vodafone Red Alert.
As for the immediate, he said that Vodacom targets to have 10 million customers and improved services to individual and corporate subscribers.
“We intend to cover the country efficiently and change lives through innovations so everyone in the country can have a phone and afford to communicate at the time remain a Tanzanian company”, he said.
He also mentioned some of the challenges over the last ten years as transportation and electricity, operational costs, transmission as well as capital expenditure.
Vodacom commenced operations on August 15, 2000 when one Alphonse Biria walked through Vodashop doors and thus making history by becoming the first Vodacom customer in Tanzania.
