The aftermath of the 1994 genocide

The aftermath of the 1994 genocide and a monopolistic market structure until 2006 have weighed on the Rwandan telecommunications sector, however the country is now rapidly catching up with other markets in Africa.

The whole significantly below the regional average

Mobile market penetration is on the whole significantly below the regional average. The country has been slow to liberalise the sector, allowing South Africa's MTN a monopoly until 2006 when the fixed-line incumbent, Rwandatel became the second mobile operator. The launch of a third network in 2009 sparked a new subscriber growth phase, nevertheless the average revenue per user has more than halved since at that time. Third-generation mobile services have been launched, providing an possibility for operators to improve ARPU by offering broadband services. A fourth mobile network may be licensed in the nearly future.

Rwanda's internet and broadband sector has suffered from limited fixed-line infrastructure and high prices, nevertheless developments in the fibre market are beginning to change this. The operators are rolling out national fibre backbone networks which as well allow them to connect to the international submarine fibre-optic cables that landed on the African east coast in 2009 and 2010. These cables have given the entire region fibre-based international bandwidth for the first time and brought to an end its dependency on satellites.

The price for international internet bandwidth is expected to fall to a fraction of the current level. Several ISPs are rolling out WiMAX wireless broadband networks. They have adopted VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) internet telephony even though the research has not but been officially deregulated, which potentially turns them into converged fixed-wireless voice and data/broadband service providers. Rwanda is as well a key partner in the One Laptop per Child project and has a major e-government program.

This report contains an overview and analysis of Rwanda's telecommunications market, profiles of the major players in all market sectors, relevant statistics and analysis, and scenario forecasts to 2013 and 2016 for the country's mobile market.

Comprehensive overview of trends

This annual report provides a comprehensive overview of trends and developments in Rwanda's telecommunications market. Subjects covered include:

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