Kigali: Rwanda's mobile phone market expanded 14 percent in third quarter as operators cut tariffs amid growing competition, the sector's regulator said.

“RURA has attributed the growth to lower tariffs introduced amidst stiff competition and various promotions resulting from increasing competition,” Rwanda Utilities and Regulatory Agency said on Monday, according to Reuters news agency.

The central African nation, which had 3.62 million subscribers at the end of September, is targeting 6 million subscribers by 2012.

RURA said MTN Rwanda, a subsidiary of the South African MTN Group, remained market leader with 2.3 million subscribers.

Tigo Rwanda, owned by Millicom International Cellular, was the second largest telecoms firm by subscribers, with 685,000 users, while Rwandatel registered 536,000 subscribers.

RURA said the government was considering issuing a fourth license by the end of the year and was looking at market trends to determine when to issue the license.

Rwandatel, partly owned by Rwanda and the Libyan investment consortium, LAP Green, is the leading provider of data and internet services in the country, commanding 70 percent of the market, RURA said.