REPUBLIC OF RWANDA RWANDA UTILITIES REGULATORY AGENCY STATISTICS AND TARIFF INFORMATION IN TELECOM SECTOR AS OF SEPTEMBER 2012
CONTENTS 1. MOBILE AND FIXED TELEPHONE SERVICE... 3 1.1. SUBSCRIPTIONS, MARKET SHARE EVOLUTION AND COVERAGE... 3 1.2. TARIFF STRUCTURE... 7 1.3. TRAFFIC STATISTICS... 10 1.1. BROADBAND INTERNET SUBSCRIBERS... 14 1.2. BROADBAND INTERNET MARKET SHARE... 15 1.3. INTERNATIONAL INTERNET BANDWIDTH... 15 LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Number of mobile and fixed telephone service subscribers per operator... 3 Table 2: Mobile telephone network coverage as of September 2012 per type of coverage and per operator... 6 Table 3. Evolution of the volume of terminated telephone calls as of September 2012 in minutes per type of call... 11 Table 4. Licensed internet service providers as of September 2012... 13 Table 5. Internet subscribers per category per operator as of September 2012... 14 Table 6. International internet bandwidth per operator as of September 2012... 15 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: Development of the subscriber base per type of telephone service.... 4 Figure 2: Evolution of the number of postpaid and prepaid mobile subscribers per operator as of September 2012... 5 Figure 3: Evolution of mobile telephone service market share per operator.... 6 Figure 4. Evolution of mobile telephone voice tariff structure per operator as of September 2012.. 7 Figure 5: Per minute fixed line tariff as of September 2012 (in RWF)... 10 Figure 6: Evolution of the voice traffic market share per operator and per type of call... 11 Figure 7: Evolution of the market structure on international voice traffic... 12 Page 2 of 15
1. MOBILE AND FIXED TELEPHONE SERVICE 1.1. SUBSCRIPTIONS, MARKET SHARE EVOLUTION AND COVERAGE As of September 2012, the major players in mobile telephony included MTN Rwandacell, TIGO Rwanda Ltd and AIRTEL Rwanda Ltd which is the new entrant. The penetration rate continues to grow but on a lower rate compared to previous years while the fixed telephone subscriptions growth remains almost stagnant. Table 1: Number of mobile and fixed telephone service subscribers per operator Operators Active subscribers Fixed Teledensit y Mobile Teledens ity General teledensity MTN Rwanda Mobile Active subscribers 3,033,421 Fixed Telephony 12,255 0.41% 44.4% 44.81% TIGO Rwanda 1,615,585 AIRTEL 110,304 RWANDA LTD RWANDATEL - 31,371 Total 4,759,310 43,626 Table above indicates that mobile penetration rate reached 44.81% as of September 2012 against 41.6% on March 2012 representing 7.1% increase. Page 3 of 15
Figure 1: Development of the subscriber base per type of telephone service. Page 4 of 15
Figure 2: Evolution of the number of postpaid and prepaid mobile subscribers per operator as of September 2012 It can be noticed that Tigo postpaid subsribers decreased from 6,276 to 5,487 subscribers. Page 5 of 15
Figure 3: Evolution of mobile telephone service market share per operator. MTN Rwanda is still leading in terms of mobile subscribers with 63.7% of the market share followed by Tigo which has 33.9%, Airtel Rwanda the new entrant in the telecom sector has the lowest market share of 2.3%. The coverage for each network is depicted from the table below: Table 2: Mobile telephone network coverage as of September 2012 per type of coverage and per operator Geographical coverage Population coverage MTN Rwanda 97.9% 97.73% TIGO 74.37% 90.90% Airtel Rwanda LTD 3% 9% Page 6 of 15
1.2. TARIFF STRUCTURE a) Mobile telephone Network In general, the tariffs for mobile telephone calls remained stable for the period under review as described below ; Figure 4. Evolution of mobile telephone voice tariff structure per operator as of September 2012. Page 7 of 15
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The above figures indicate the following: Airtel is the cheapest in terms of onnet, regional and international calls. MTN and Airtel Rwanda LTD remain the cheapest in terms of offnet calls for both postpaid and prepaid option. Tigo charges the highest offnet tariff. Airtel Rwanda LTD has many promotional tariffs which includes Rwf 10 for onnet tariff, Rwf 30 for offnet, Rwf 60 for Regional and Rwf 35 for international calls. b)fixed telephone network Rwandatel is the active fixed line voice service provider. Below is the tariff structure for fixed line telephone as of September 2012. Rwandatel is leading the fixed telephony market with 72% market share. Page 9 of 15
Figure 5: Per minute fixed line tariff as of September 2012 (in RWF) Rwandatel is cheaper on net and International fixed telephony calls and MTN is 33% cheaper on offnet and 56% on regional fixed telephony calls. 1.3. TRAFFIC STATISTICS a) Total outgoing mobile calls(in minutes) and quarterly traffic market share The table below indicates the actual total number of minutes terminated within the last two quarters: Page 10 of 15
Table 3. Evolution of the volume of terminated telephone calls as of September 2012 in minutes per type of call. July- September 2011 October- December 2011 January- March 2012 Arpril- September 2012 Onnet calls 1,079,260,1 26 1,138,861,688 1,055,324,525 976,083,706 Offnet calls 11,185,090 11,892,467 12,490,430 14,383,405.00 International calls 23,040,564 35,664,450 28,729,397 29,576,597 Total 1,020,043,708 The outgoing onnet traffic kept on decreasing in the third quarter of 2012, it decreased by 8.1%. The voice traffic market share for the two quarters is illustrated hereunder: Figure 6: Evolution of the voice traffic market share per operator and per type of call Page 11 of 15
As per the above graphs, during the period under review, and contrary to the previous periods, MTN has gained the biggest market share on both onnet and offnet markets, that is 51% and 53% for the onnet and offnet markets respectively against 48.8% and 36% for TIGO and 0.2%,10.9% for Airtel respectively. b) Total incoming mobile calls(in minutes) as of September 2012 Figure 7: Evolution of the market structure on international voice traffic MTN still has a bigger market share in terms of international call volumes with 94% traffic market share as of September 2012. Page 12 of 15
INTERNET SERVICE PROVISION There are ten (10) licensed Internet Service Providers in the country including National telecommunication service operators (fixed and mobile). The table below is a list of all the operators providing Internet Services (ISPs) as well as the internet penetration trend since 2003. Table 4. Licensed internet service providers as of September 2012 ISPs LICENSED FROM(Year) STATUS MTN Rwandacell S.A.R.L 2006 Operational RWANDATEL S.A 2008 Operational TIGO Rwanda S.A 2008 Operational New Artel 2004 Operational ISPA 2006 Operational Altech Stream 2007 Operational 4G NETWORKS 2009 Not yet Operational BSC 2010 Operational 4G Rwanda 2011 Not yet Operational AIRTEL Rwanda LTD 2011 New entrant Augere which has not been operational since 2008 when it was licensed applied for the cancelation of their license in September 2012. Page 13 of 15
Figure 8. Development of the internet penetration rates 1.1. BROADBAND INTERNET SUBSCRIBERS The table below illustrates the breakdown of internet subscribers per category and per operator: Table 5. Internet subscribers per category per operator as of September 2012 Fixed internet Mobile internet Total Narrowband( 256kbps) Broadband( 256kbps) RWANDATEL 1,017 1624 0 2641 MTN 445 381 505,263 506,089 TIGO 0 0 235234 235,234 New Artel 22 47 69 ISPA 25 19 44 Altech stream 251 269 520 BSC 0 685 685 Airtel Rwanda 0 0 8,874 8,874 1760 3,025 754,156 Page 14 of 15
1.2. BROADBAND INTERNET MARKET SHARE The figures below compare broadband market shares in terms of subscribers for the last two quarters: Figure 9. Evolution of fixed broadband market share for the last two quarters Rwandatel and New Artel market share decreased by 11% and by 21% respectively. BSC market share increased by 39% in the third quarter 2012. 1.3. INTERNATIONAL INTERNET BANDWIDTH Table 6. International internet bandwidth per operator as of September 2012 Below is the international bandwidth per operator as of September 2012 Type MTN Rwanda Uplink 777 Mbps Downlink 777 Mbps Rwandatel NEW ARTEL 43 155 Mbps Mbps 148 155 Mbps Mbps ALTECH STREAM 313 Mbps 322 Mbps TIGO RWANDA ISPA BSC Airtel Rwanda 90 6 Mbps 620 20 Mbps Mbps Mbps 90 Mbps 8 Mbps 620 20Mbps Mbps Page 15 of 15