Rwandatel signs up 120,000 new subscribers in three weeks

Rwandatel, a Rwanda based mobile operator, signed up 120,000 new subscribers in only three weeks after switching on its 3G and GSM network and aims to subscribe 600,000 subscribers by the middle of this year. Rwandatel operated a CDMA network but decided to switch to GSM based 3G service.

Cellular-news reported that Rwandatel’s CEO, Patrick Kariningufu, said its subscriber figure reflected the level of the ‘active subscribers’ Rwandatel had since 21 December 2008. According to Cellular-news Rwandatel experienced a shortage of SIM cards and phones in retail outlets after 55,000 people signed up in the first week of the new network.

LapGreen Networks, a contributor to the Libyan African Investment Portfolio and the majority stakeholder in Uganda Telecom (UTL), owns 80 percent of Rwandatel. It signed a US$35 million deal with Huawei to revamp its landline network and change its public switched telephone network with a 3G network.

The MTN network ended last September with 988,000 subscribers on its GSM network and Millicom was granted the country’s third mobile license after paying US$60 million for a 15 year license.