Rwandatel, Rwanda’s oldest telecommunications company will soon send 50 of its engineers to China for training. The company’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Patrick Kariningufu said that the training scheduled for March is intended to increase on the expertise of their technical staff.

Without divulging into details of the length of the training, he said, "The training will cover all technical areas of modern telecommunication such as software development and installation.”

Kariningufu added that the training is also intended to bolster the Rwandatel’s service provision as it positions itself towards meeting its 1.2 million clientele base this year.

According to management, the training is part of the company’s capacity building efforts for increasing on staff efficiency in service provision, which satisfies customers.

The move comes at time when the company is increasing its coverage in the country having switched to using GSM technology, after its acquisition by LAP Green networks a subsidiary of Libyan African Portfolio.

Prior to switching over to 3G technology, it was operating under its CDMA technology. Currently, Rwandatel that is jointly owned by Social Security Fund of Rwanda (SSFR) is rolling out 86 masts expected to be complete by the end of February.

These will supplement the existing 76 masts in increasing network coverage in rural Rwanda, thereby contributing to mobile phone penetration in Rwanda.

Mobile phone penetration is estimated at about 11 percent with MTN-Rwandacell having the lion’s share estimated slightly above 1 million.

However government targets about 6 million of its population to access mobile phones by 2012 under its ICT drive as a tool for economic development.

A third telecom operator, Millicom, which was recently awarded a licence, is also expected to play its part in helping government hit its target.

Meanwhile, just as its competitors have launched the Blackberry service, Rwandatel is also planning to offer the service soon this year.

Recently, the company also started its roaming services with Uganda Telecom (UTL) while technical testing in Tanzania and Kenya are also ongoing.

This competition is expected to benefit Rwandan telecom subscribers with more, better and reliable services.

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