With competition  within the telecoms sector stiffening, the country’s leading telecom firm by subscriber base MTN Rwanda, is set to launch a two month long  cash promotional contest worth Rwf60 million.

This is seen as a way of tightening its grip on the local telecoms market.

The promotion dubbed ‘Faranga Y’ello Y’ello’ will run for five weeks. MTN’s Marketing Operations Manager, Robert Rwakabogo told Business Times that the operator opted for a cash give-away contest as this would transform the lives of lucky customers.

"The promotion targets all the existing subscribers as well as the new ones who will get on board during the promotion period, including our inactive
customers for over 60 days,” Rwakabogo explained.

MTN intends to reward a total of 10 winners who would each walk away with a total of Rwf10 million every week. The final draw for the grand prize of Rwf13
million is scheduled for September 25th.

MTN ran a similar promotion last year which telecoms experts say ended prematurely. However, MTN said that this year’s promotion is very different from the
previous one.

"The difference with Faranga Y’ello Y’ello is the simplicity for eligibility along with the lower top-up requirements”. 

MTN’s sole competitor Tigo Rwanda, was unable to reveal any of its market responses, since Tigo Rwanda launched a similar programme last year.

Tigo Rwanda’s Marketing Manager, Nina-Claudia Ndabaneze said that her firm does not disclose its upcoming offers for obvious competitive reasons.

"In general, we do not react to competitor’s actions, rather, we  stick to our own plans by focusing more on what the Rwandan customer tells us everyday,”
Ndabaneze said.

According to June statistics from the telecom regulator Rwanda Utilities Regulatory Agency (RURA), Tigo had accumulated 966,065 mobile subscribers while MTN has 2,764,201 million users.

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