Telecommunication companies that failed to roll out services after they were awarded licences some years back, risk having their licenses revoked by the government.

Minister of Information Gospel Kazako specified that there are five licenced telecommunication companies that have not rolled out. “We will be looking at why they have not rolled out and my ministry will instruct the Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority to engage them and, if we are not convinced, we will revoke their licences.”

According to a Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband – Statistics and Analyses Report dated 919 0ct 2020, Malawi remains one of the world’s least developed countries, with few resources to build efficient fixed-line telecom infrastructure. As a result, the country’s two mobile networks provide the vast majority of connections for voice and data services. Part of the report reads, “Both Airtel Malawi and TMN have invested in LTE to improve data services, and by September 2019 TMN’s entire network had been upgraded to LTE. Nevertheless, this market duopoly has resulted in relatively high prices for services, prompting the government in late 2020 to call for a new license to be issued in a bid to improve market competition.”