IN a bid to retain and build its mobile subscribers base, Rwandatel has slashed calling tariffs to Rwf3 per minute for its prepaid customers.

The tariff being the lowest on the market, Rwandatel subscribers can enjoy Rwf3 per minute On-net and Rwf90 Off-net from Rwf120 and management said they are responding to customer needs from the market point of view.

"The reduced rates affirm Rwandatel’s commitment to offer the best possible service on the market at the most affordable cost to our customers,” Rwandatel’s Chief Commercial officer (CCO), Francis Egbuson said on Tuesday.

Egbuson also said that in the promotion, customers on Friends and Family who were normally enjoying a 50 percent discount on regular rates will now be able to call for Rwf1.5 per minute.

He also added that the operators point of focus is to have as many subscribers on whether fixed or mobile telephony as they can.

Along with the tariff cuts, the operator has also cut the price for their ‘akanyenyeri’ phone from Rwf8,000 to Rwf5,000, which also comes with 250 complimentary minutes and 300 free Short Message Services (SMS), making it the cheapest handset on the market. 

The CCO reaffirmed customers on ‘NTUKUPE’ offer that they will still be able to enjoy free calls within 24hours and they can also enjoy the Rwf3 per minute calls after the end of the 24hrs.

"Rate for international calls, SMS remain unchanged at Rwf10 being the lowest in the industry,” Egbuson said. He also revealed that they are targeting 350,000 subscribers by the end of the year. 

Management also revealed that they are running a residential promotion to whoever wants home internet for the fixed line.

By the promotion, the operator will be providing free installation but the client will be required to only pay the monthly subscription.

"For customers without fixed lines at home, they will be required to pay half price (Rwf15,000) for installation,” Egbuson said.

Currently, Rwandatel is the country’s leading ISP with 70 percent market share and management revealed that they are ready to connect to the newly launched Fibre optic cable (EASSy) to ensure a full uninterrupted connection.

Egbuson also revealed that as soon as the operator has the redundancy, they are expecting bandwidth costs to go down and it is a matter of time. 

During the recent outages due to cuts in SEACOM’s undersea cable, Rwandatel invested in building a fully redundant data and internet network plus the human capacity to deliver a predictable and remarkable customer experience.

"We have back up capacity from two additional suppliers (74Mb from one supplier and 140Mb from the other),” Management said.

This brings Rwandatel’s total capacity on satellite to 214Mb which is 26% above our monthly utilization.

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