DAR ES SALAAM: TANZANIA’S communications sector is expanding at a breakneck pace, fundamentally reshaping how its citizens interact, transact and access information.
The latest Communications Statistics Report from JAthe Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA) for the quarter ending December 2025 quantifies this revolution, recording 106.9 million active telecom subscriptions, a striking 7.7 per cent increase in just three months.
This growth narrative, however, is not onedimensional. Beneath the headline figures lies a more complex story of rapid technological rollout confronting persistent socio-economic hurdles and emerging cyber-risks. The data reveals a nation straddling two realities: a digital infrastructure leap that rivals regional peers and a usage gap that threatens to leave millions behind unless addressed with targeted policy and public awareness.
The Undeniable Boom: Infrastructure and Adoption The report leaves no doubt about the sector’s momentum. Network Expansion as the Foundation: The physical backbone of the digital economy is strengthening.
The number of telecom towers grew from 9,745 to 10,029 and 5G population coverage expanded from 28.9 per cent to 30.1 per cent.
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Crucially, 4G coverage now reaches 94.2 per cent of the population, making highspeed mobile broadband a near-universal possibility. Subscription Surge Across Services: This infrastructure push is fuelling adoption. Internet subscriptions grew by 3.2 per cent to 58.1 million and total data traffic consumed jumped 9.5 per cent to 808 Petabytes a clear indicator of deepening digital engagement.
The mobile money ecosystem continues to be a standout success, with accounts increasing by 6.7 per cent to 76.5 million, processing transactions worth trillions of Shillings. The Voice-to-Data Shift: A subtle but significant trend is the decline of traditional voice. Local voice traffic decreased by 0.3 per cent, while SMS traffic grew by 9.2 per cent.
This confirms a global trend: Tanzanians are increasingly preferring messaging apps and databased communication (like WhatsApp and social media) over circuit-switched calls, a behavioural shift with major implications for network investment and service bundling.
The Device Divide: Tanzania’s Critical Bottleneck Perhaps the most telling contradiction in the report is between network availability and device capability.
• The Coverage Promise: 4G network population coverage stands at 94.2 per cent.
• The Access Reality: Smartphone penetration sits at only 41.82 per cent. In stark contrast, feature phone penetration is 87.11 per cent. This means a large portion of the population with access to a 4G signal can only use it for basic calls and SMS, unable to leverage the highspeed data for services like video streaming, advanced mobile banking, e-learning, or tele-health.
Economic and Social Implications: This device gap is not merely a consumer choice issue; it is a structural barrier to digital inclusion. The report itself identifies this as “an opportunity for investment in affordable devices.” Without a smartphone, a user cannot fully participate in the digital economy.
They are excluded from a growing segment of e-government services, miss out on visual educational content and are limited to basic USSD mobile money functions rather than more secure and intuitive app-based interfaces. The Opportunity: Bridging this gap requires a multi-stakeholder approach.
Potential solutions include innovative financing models (device financing plans), incentivising local assembly or import of low-cost smart devices and public-private partnerships aimed at targeted subsidies for students or lowincome groups.
Solving this is critical for transforming network coverage from a statistical achievement into tangible socio-economic gain.
The Fraud Landscape: A Persistent Threat in a Growing Ecosystem
As the digital pie grows, so does the attention of malicious actors. The TCRA data provides a rare, granular look at the geography and distribution of fraudulent attempts, revealing risks that are not evenly spread across operators.
The Numbers and the Disparity: While fraudulent attempts decreased by 24 per cent to 9,450 in the quarter, the figure remains concerning. A simple operator-level analysis reveals a critical nuance: Vodacom, the market leader (31.2 per cent share), recorded the highest absolute number of attempts (2,645). This correlation between size and target is expected. However, TTCL’s data is alarming.
With a minuscule ~1.6 per cent market share, it reported 2,225 attempts a volume rivalling Vodacom’s. This indicates a severe disproportionate burden, suggesting its network or user base may face specific vulnerabilities that demand targeted intervention.
Yas (2,257 attempts), Airtel (1,174) and Halotel (1,149) round out the picture, with Yas’s figures also being significant relative to its market position. Regional Hotspots:The geographic breakdown is equally uneven. Rukwa (3,444 attempts) and Morogoro (3,105) accounted for nearly 70 per cent of all reported incidents.
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This intense concentration could point to targeted campaigns, regional gaps in consumer awareness, or localised operational weaknesses in fraud prevention. Beyond the Numbers – The Human Impact:Each attempt represents a potential financial loss, eroded trust and psychological distress for citizens.
The most common tactics SIM swap fraud, phishing via SMS (Smishing) and social engineering to obtain PINs prey on a lack of digital literacy. The decrease in attempts is positive and may reflect better network-level detection by operators, but sustained improvement will require making the public the first line of defence through continuous education.
The TTCL anomaly specifically underscores that regulators must ensure all operators, regardless of size, enforce robust, modern security protocols for their customers. The Hidden Highway: Under-utilised International Bandwidth.
A technical finding in the report with profound economic implications is the state of Tanzania’s international internet links.
• Total Owned Capacity: 17,590 Gbps (duplex)
• Currently Activated/Used: 2,863 Gbps
• Utilisation Rate: Only 16.3 per cent This is akin to building a ten-lane superhighway to the global internet but only opening one and a half lanes.
High international bandwidth is the conduit for hosting local content/services globally, accessing overseas cloud platforms, and ensuring low-latency connections for business and gaming.
Why This Matters: Low utilisation often keeps the unit cost of bandwidth high for ISPs, a cost eventually passed to consumers and businesses. It also limits the potential for Tanzania to become a regional digital hub. Fully leveraging this capacity could lead to more competitive internet pricing, improved service quality and attract businesses looking for a well-connected base in East Africa.
Conclusion: Building a Secure and Inclusive Digital Future The TCRA report concludes by reaffirming the sector’s “vital role in advancing Tanzania’s digital transformation and socioeconomic development.” The data undeniably supports this. However, the path forward must be strategic.
The three deep-dive areas the device divide, the fraud geography and the bandwidth puzzle are interconnected. Closing the device gap will bring more people online, which necessitates redoubling fraud prevention efforts to protect them. Simultaneously, activating more international bandwidth will improve the quality and affordability of the online experience for all, making connectivity more valuable and just.
The Call to Action:
1. For Policymakers & Regulators: Move beyond infrastructure metrics to adoption-impact metrics. Foster initiatives that make smart devices accessible. Use the fraud data to launch targeted regional cybersecurity awareness campaigns.
2. For Operators: Invest in advanced fraud detection systems and make consumer security education a core part of customer service.
Develop affordable smartphone-data bundles.
3. For Citizens: Embrace the digital tools but practice vigilance. Use strong PINs, be skeptical of unsolicited messages and continuously seek to improve digital literacy.
Tanzania’s digital journey is accelerating. The challenge now is to ensure it is a journey where everyone has a seat, a secure seat, on a fast and reliable vehicle heading toward a future of inclusive prosperity.