The first GSM (Global System for Mobile communications) network in Zambia is scheduled to be commercial at the end of October. At its launch, Zambia will join more than 20 African countries that have GSM networks.
The new operator, Zamcell, is a joint venture of the British company Mobile Systems International (80 percent), Japan’s Mitsui (10 percent) and International Finance Corp. (10 percent), which is the private arm of the World Bank and is coordinating financing for the company. Zamtel, the fixed-line local operator, has been given the option to take shares in the company, but so far has not done so.
Although the exact switch-on date has not been announced, it is believed the network will be launched on 24 October, the country’s Independence Day.
Siemens S.A. has been awarded the US$15 million equipment contract for the turnkey project. The equipment already has arrived in Zambia, and according to the contract, Siemens must have its equipment ready for service by the end of September for commercial trials.
The carrier is planning initial coverage for the greater Lusaka area, with coverage extended to the International Airport and the Copperbelt by the end of the year. In 1999 it is planning to build out toward Livingstone at the Victoria Falls.
Zamcell is anticipating 10,000 initial subscribers on the network, growing to 50,000 within 5 to 10 years.
The carrier is not planning to subsidize handsets, which will be sold at cost through dealers. Pricing figures have not been released yet, but are believed to be competitive with those of the existing networks.
Telecel, which operates a CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) network in Lusaka, charges US50 cents per minute for local calls and US60 cents for national calls. The network has 3,000 subscribers. The NEC AMPS (Advanced Mobile Phone Service) network, currently operated by Zamtel, also has 3,000 subscribers.
Zamcell anticipates very little competition from the other two existing networks, as it will offer value-added services like roaming from the very beginning. The total cost of the initial rollout is expected to be US$20 million.
