Maputo, Mozambique, 15 July – The government of Mozambique has approved the launch of a third mobile phone operator in the country, which will be chosen via an international public tender soon, government spokesman, Luís Covane said Tuesday in Maputo.

Two mobile telecommunications companies currently operate in Mozambique: Mcel, which is state owned and which has over 3million national customers, and Vodacom, a South African and Mozambican consortium, with around 2.5 million customers.

The former began operating 10 years ago, while the latter has been operating since 2003.

Public company Telecomunicações de Moçambique has had the monopoly on fixed line telephony since the country’s independence in 1975, but its liberalisation is due to be carried out soon.

With the introduction of the third mobile telephony operator, the Mozambican authorities expect jobs to be created and a diversification of the services offered.

It also expects, “competition to be increased and access to a quality service at a good price as well as expansion of services, a rise in tele-density and revenue generation for the Mozambican state,” said Coavne. (macauhub)