Focus: Rwandatel’s 3G, GSM mobile communication hits Kigali

Grace Mugoya explores how people are receiving Rwandatel’s latest moves Rwandatel’s launch of the 3 G GSM technology appears to have created visible competition with MTN Rwanda cell within the local telecoms market. It introduced a U 120 3G GSM mobile phone priced at Rwf 19,000. The user is able to conduct a wireless video call and access broadband internet, while the cheapest phone on market now goes for Rwf 12,000. This has apparently created stiff competition since its launch. Many people have already joined the network while others are still on the way. A visit to the Union Trade Centre building in the city, revealed that mobile phones were out of stock in all Rwandatel out-lets. A salesman at the RwandaTel UTC counter said that clients had to pay in advance so that they could pick the phones as soon as they were made available. Some people intimated that there is something unique to Rwandatel that has attracted people. Anthony Musinguzi a business man in Remera Kisementi, says most people are attracted by the U 120 3G GSM mobile phone. ‘The phone has a camera; you can see the person who calls you provided that person has that particular phone or any other phone with similar features’. According to Musinguzi, the telecommunications industry in Rwanda is set to improve due to the competition which Rwandatel has brought in the country. He adds: ‘Where there is monopoly in business, business operators take their clients for granted’. However he is unlikely to abandon his MTN line. He explains: ‘Having been on MTN Rwanda network communication system for the last 3 years and being a businessman, all my dealers know my MTN mobile number. So it really takes time for a man like me to change my contacts’. Alex Mutabazi, a special hire driver,could not resist the lure that the cheap call rates of Rwandatel network. ‘It costs me Rwf 200 per unit to call Europe, Rwf 155 to countries in the region and Rwf 1.3 in the country on a billing system’, he said excitedly. He says this is very important to provide the clients with ‘the best it can because it’s now Rwanda’s telecoms is in a competitive atmosphere’. Mutabazi revealed that he had to make the move to migrate so as to enjoy the functions the new RwandaTel network offered him. Mary Namata, a teacher says that it’s good the company has successfully rolled out the new GSM network upgrade so as to serve the public. She says ‘it is the best thing to have happened locally’. Like many others, she says time has come for Rwandans to have a choice in regard to telecommunication networks. ‘I have been forced to buy another mobile phone at only Rwf 19,000 and I will be able to access the internet, use the camera and even other functions which I have not yet known but are inbuilt’. Eduard Mutabaruka sells airtime by the roadside in Remera for both Rwandatel and MTN Rwanda. He says that he has made more money in the aftermath of Rwandatel’s re-launch than at any other time in his long career as an airtime vendor. ‘I am selling Rwandatel airtime of about Rwf 50,000 a day, which is a good deal for me’, he said adding that people who are on MTN Rwanda are the same customers who have joined Rwandatel. Ends