Airtel launches in Rwanda

Bharti Airtel announced the launch of its operation in Rwanda, expanding its footprint on the African continent to 17 countries. Airtel has already said that it will invest over US$100 million in its operations in the country over the next three years.

Airtel has partnered with IBM in a move that will enable the cellco to offer superior customer experience in Rwanda. The partnership will see IBM deploy and manage the IT infrastructure and applications to further support Airtel’s goal of providing innovative mobile services.

Ericsson was selected to manage the network from end-to-end, including OSS/BSS solutions and managed services.

The inaugural call was placed on the system on March 7. It took just 83 days to build this network from the start – the fastest greenfield launch in history in sub-Saharan Africa.

Rwanda is among the fastest growing telecom markets in Africa and, according to the National Statistics Institute of Rwanda, mobile penetration in the country was at 38.4 per cent as of July 2011.

Airtel was awarded the licence by the Rwanda Utilities Regulatory Agency (RURA) last year to operate 2G and 3G mobile services.

Airtel Rwanda becomes the third cellco in Rwanda behind MTN and Tigo.