MOGADISHU, (HargeisaPress) —For Somtel, one of the leading mobile network operators in Somalia, providing the cheapest and edge-cutting mobile service for people in Somalia, one of the poorest nations in the world was a major test which showed early success and added unique extras into the Somalia’s telecom industry.
Although telecom companies had enjoyed a tax-free business in the long lawlessness horn of Africa nation, the service remains one of the most expensive in the Sub-Sarahan Africa which had seen an increase in the number of people using mobile phones in recent years.
In a country where poverty remains rampant, with 73% of the population live below $1 and $2 per day respectively, delivering a cheap and affordable mobile service is seen as an opportunity to spread communities in under-resourced areas and transform communications in Somalia.
For years, the mobile technology has been a game changer for many underdeveloped countries, and Somalia which is recovering from decades of war is not an exception.
Launching its new services, Somtel executives said that the new low-priced services would help spur the growth of cell phone users across Somalia.
Headquartered in Hargeisa, the capital of the breakaway northern Somalia republic of Somaliland, the company which partnered with Google Inc. in e-mail services in 2012 has expanded its operation into southern Somalia on early this year and unveiled wide range of services including mobile banking, mobile data and GSM services.
The company says that it made significant cut-rate services for over a third of the fees charged by its competitors; a development which consumers say prompted an immediate price competition by other companies that already started making significant price cut to their services.
“It feels like I can use $1 for over a week.” said Mohamed Haji, a porter at the Mogadishu port who said he rarely topped up his phone before he started using the low-cost Somtel services.
INT’L CALL RATES
Despite challenges involved in building customer networks for new businesses, Somtel’s new services showed early success, thanks to the low cost services, with the mobile subscriber base increased at a fast pace by just over 30% in few months.
The telecom company cut local and international call charges by over 200%, arguably making it the cheapest telecom operator in Africa.
COUNTRIES & RATES
USA = $1 for ten minutes
Canada = $1 for ten minutes
Sweden = $1 for ten minutes
Norway = $1 for ten minutes
UK & Europe = $1 for ten minutes
India & Malayria = $1 for ten minutes
Meanwhile, development experts predict a significant growth in Somalia’s telecom sectors in the next few years, a scenario which may spark fierce market competitions by major telecom companies that enjoyed dominant competition-free business flow in decades.
Abdi Guled, HargeisaPress — MOGADISHU