The two leading local telecom firms, MTN and Tigo, have attributed the continued decline in subscriber numbers over the past months to deactivation of ‘wrongly’ registered SIM cards. The firms also say other subscribers were deregistered for owning multiple phone numbers, as per the Rwanda Utilities Regulatory Authority (RURA) guidelines. 

According to RURA statistics, MTN customer numbers have been dropping since the beginning of the year, while Tigo has experienced the same challenge in the months of April and May.

The RURA mobile telephone subscription report for May indicates that Tigo lost 26,889 active subscribers dropping to 3.069 million subscribers in May from 3.095 million customers in April. Market leader, MTN lost 17,932 clients, from 3.984 million subscribers in April to 3.966 million active subscribers in May.

Commenting on the drop, Sunny Ntayombya, the Tigo corporate communications and government relations manager, said the telecom has been deregistering subscribers with many phone numbers.

"We have had cases of people with multiple phone numbers engaging in fraudulent acts, so in collaboration with RURA and security organs, Tigo Rwanda has been deactivating those found with multiple numbers.”

Teta Mpyisi, the MTN Rwanda senior manager for brand and sponsorship, voiced a similar view, saying the telecom followed RURA’s requirement to ensure customers do not have more than 10 SIM cards registered under their names, "which has affected our subscriber numbers.”

"The drop is also due to the numbers we disconnect because they were improperly registered,” Teta added.

However, Airtel Rwanda continued its upward trend and was the biggest gainer last month with 1.781 million subscribers in May, having added 57,787 more customers, a growth from 1.723 million active subscribers in April.

The total number of active phones also increased slightly to 8.816 million subscribers in May, from 8.803 million customers in April, indicating 0.15 per cent rise, the RURA report indicates. This compares to a decrease of 0.04 per cent in April, from 8.888 million subscribers in March, to 8.803 million customers.

Despite the increase in subscriber numbers in May, Rwanda’s mobile phone penetration rate dropped slightly to 78 per cent last month, when compared to a 90-day period, from 78.2 per cent in April.

Victor Nyindi, a senior consultant at Hooza Media Convergence, said the introduction of the interoperability services for mobile money, where one does not require a second line from different operator use to send or receive money has affected some sector players.

Nyindi also said telecoms with affordable data services could have a competitive advantage over their rivals as more Rwandans now use such packages to read news, especially sports, as well as accessing social media sites like WhatsApp, Facebook, and Twitter.

business@newtimes.co.rw