MTN Rwanda is set to commercially launch the MTN Zone today. MTN Zone is a new product that is designed to deliver discounts to customers on MTN network.

MTN Zone is a new tariff scheme that allows MTN customers to enjoy discounts of up to 90 percent depending on where the subscriber is and the level of network utilisation in that area.

According to MTN officials, every town, trading centre or village where there is network, is serviced by a number of MTN masts that enable customers to make calls.

"In some areas the network is very busy as many people are calling thereby fully utilising the network while in other areas the network may not be used to their full capacity depending on the time of the day,” officials explained.

MTN Zone will be available for only prepaid customers and subscribers will be asked to register for the service.

MTN Rwanda and Rwandatel are now bracing themselves for aggressive competition after Tigo announced it would be starting operations in November.

There has been a lot of price movements between the two in a bid to stimulate the market to secure the subscriber base.

A recent MTN Group Report says that MTN operation in Kigali nearly doubled its capital expenditure in 2008, deploying 316 base transceiver stations (BTS), 230 site upgrades and an upgrade of the national transmission backbone.

Rwandatel on the other hand is involved in SEACOM in a deal to have affordable high speed bandwidth from the undersea cable connected to the company’s backbone links in Kigali .

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