Kigali: Barely a month after Rwandatel rolled out its GSM and 3G network, the Libyan owned telecom announced Tuesday that it added 120.000 subscribers to its clientele, RNA reports.

Providing new exclusive services including free internet and affordable phone sets installed with the latest technology, the Chief Executive Office Mr. Patrick Kariningufu said the reception from the Rwandatel customers has been “overwhelming”.  

Rwandatel phones had been using cell phone technology that did not require a SIM Card. Now the new phones, on sale at 12,000 Francs ($30) and another at 19,000 Francs ($37) for a set, use the Cards.

In November last year, the Libyan government investment arm LapGreen Networks bought an 80% stake in the struggling firm at $100million – way above what officials in Kigali had hoped. It has pledged another $87m in future investments.  

The company signed a $35m deal with Huawei Technologies of China in February this year for the latter to revamp Rwandatel's landline network and replace its public switched telephone network with a next-generation network.

The new network covers most of Rwanda's urban centers, inhabited areas and roads with a 3G Universal Mobile Telecommunications System.

The network will progressively be extended throughout the country in the first quarter of 2009 after completion of fifty new antennas being installed, Mr. Kariningufu told a press conference.

The company had targeted to mobilize more than 350,000 subscribers on its GSM and 3G networks within the first three months in its quest to eliminate the CDMA (Wideband Code Division Multiple Access) technology on mobile phones.

With a call center operating 24/7 hours in three shifts with 24 staff per shift, Rwandatel has the infrastructure capable of accommodating 2million subscribers on hardware and one million on software, according to its top executives.  

By the end of 2009, Rwandatel is eying one million subscribers on its GSM network. Its large competitor South African MTN has already hit the 1million subscriber point – and growing.

Parent company LapGreen Networks has a project to provide Wimax (wireless) internet connection in Rwanda as it expands the copper and fiber optic cable networks.

The new network will enable international roaming capacity between different providers, easy activation and switching of SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) cards, as well as compatibility with cell phone handsets on the market, according to Mr. Kariningufu.

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