Ongoing discussions regarding the Tanzanian government’s purchase of Indian group Bharti Airtel’s 35% share in national fixed line PTO Tanzania Telecommunication Company Limited (TTCL) have become heated due to Airtel’s rejection of an offer of TZS5 billion (USD2.26 million), according to The Citizen. TTCL is currently 65% government-owned and as noted in TeleGeography’s GlobalComms Database, in December 2013 negotiations commenced regarding the government’s purchase of the remaining 35% from Airtel ‘in the hope that by retaking 100% control of the fixed line and CDMA mobile operator it will be able to turn it around and enable it to compete more effectively with cellcos’. However, the government has halted efforts to implement business plans for the tiny mobile business of TTCL – the company had only 0.6% of the wireless market share at the end of June 2014 compared to Airtel’s 32.7% and market leader Vodafone Tanzania’s 37.6% – wanting to first gain full ownership of the operator in order to look for new investors to ‘revive’ the company. Bharti Airtel shares are said to be valued at TZS3.8 billion, while it is rumoured to be seeking TZS21.5 billion for its TTCL shares.
