Malawi: MACRA grants Celcom Limited mobile licence

6 May 2011

Even in the face of take-off failure of what would have been Malawi's third mobile phone service provider, the Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (MACRA) has awarded a fourth mobile phone service licence to little known Celcom Limited.

Malawi-owned Celcom Limited, run by MD Ted Sauti-Phiri, is expected to roll out services such as voice telephony and mobile voice telephone by October 2012.

MACRA communications manager Zadziko Mankhambo said in a statement released on Wednesday, 4 May 2011, that Celcom Limited beat bidders; Zambezi Africa Telecom, C-Mobile Holdings and Smart telecom Limited. He further said the bids were opened on 19 March 2011 in the MACRA boardroom in the presence of all applicants and the public.

Intensive evaluation process

"This was followed by an intensive evaluation process conducted by a team of highly qualified professionals in the ICT industry," he said.

The procurement of the fourth mobile phone service issuance was preceded by placement of adverts in both local and international media which included major telecommunications websites, local and international newspapers.

Mankhamba said this development follows the Ministry of Information and Civic Education's policy directive to licence more operators in the country to boost the ICT industry as well as spur competition which it hopes will enhance quality services.

Gregory Gondwe

About Gregory Gondwe

Gregory Gondwe is a Malawian journalist who started writing in 1993. He is also a media consultant assisting several international journalists pursuing assignments in Malawi. He holds a Diploma and an Intermediate Certificate in Journalism among other media-related certificates. He can be contacted on moc.liamg@ewdnogyrogerg. Follow him on Twitter at @Kalipochi.