The government, as well as the private sector, continue to invest in the expansion and modernisation of Namibia’s telecommunication sector to develop information and communication technology (ICT) throughout the country. About 85% of the population has access to broadband coverage.
NPTH DISMANTLING
Namibia Post and Telecommunications Holdings Limited (NPTH), the 100% shareholder of Namibia Post Limited (NamPost) and Telecom Namibia Limited (Telecom) and 60% shareholder of Mobile Telecommunications Limited (MTC), has been given until December 2024 by the cabinet to be dismantled. This involves, amongst others, the transfer of immovable properties by private treaty, the transfer of immovable properties to the subsidiary companies, the transfer of moveable shares and the transfer of shares in the subsidiary companies. NPTH would also need to decide on the disposal and listing of the 9% MTC shares that were not taken up following the government’s decision to sell up to 49% of its 100% stake in MTC.
MOBILE COMMUNICATIONS
Namibia’s telecommunication sector is dominated by mobile operator MTC, which is 60% owned by NPTH and Telecom which is wholly owned by NPTH. MTC dominated the mobile market share in the country’s telecommunications market with 1,992,000 prepaid customers and 167,416 postpaid customers as at 30 September 2023. With 1,014 network towers and 1,187 km of fibre, the company has a network coverage of 98%. MTC has 339 agreements with roaming partners in 148 countries.
TN Mobile, a subsidiary of Telecom, is the second largest mobile operator in the country. It had 247,301 prepaid and 33,586 postpaid subscribers as at 23 June 2023.
Telecom signed a three-year partnership with the ZTE Corporation and Huafull International in June 2024, aimed to facilitate the deployment of advanced mobile radio access technology such as 4G, 4.5G and 5G to its TN Mobile customers. The company also signed a five-year partnership with Huawei Technologies Namibia, which will enable the company to improve its mobile network capacity and coverage by expanding and upgrading existing mobile base stations across the country.
UCOM LICENCE REVOKED
The Communications Regulatory Authority of Namibia (CRAN) announced in January 2024 that it had revoked the spectrum licences of UCOM Mobile Namibia (Pty) Ltd, formerly MTN Business Namibia, due to its failure to settle arrears over N$19.3 for license fees and failing to efficiently utilise its awarded spectrum, resulting in spectrum hoarding.
CRAN granted UCOM until June 2024 to facilitate the migration of their approximately 1,000 customers and to conduct an orderly wind-up of their operations, after which all services would be terminated.
MTN transferred its shares to its local shareholder, Profile Technologies (Pty) Ltd, following the announcement by the MTN Group in 2022 that it is to disinvest in Namibia. The company then rebranded as UCOM Mobile.
INTERNET SERVICE PROVIDERS
Internet services are provided by several companies, including Paratus Namibia, Telecom’s subsidiary, iWay, africaonline and Internet Namibia. CRAN’s chief executive officer, Emilia Nghikembua, confirmed in June 2024 that Starlink, a subsidiary of the American satellite communications company SpaceX, has applied for licences to operate in Namibia. She said the application was being processed and considered in terms of the provisions of the Communications Act (No. 8 of 2009) and the relevant regulations. Paratus will be the licenced operator of Starlink in Namibia if the application is approved.
PARATUS
Paratus Namibia Holdings Limited (PHN) successfully raised over N$600 million through a rights issue which doubled the company’s market capital on the Namibian Stock Exchange (NSX). The capital was raised from the Paratus Group (61.9%), institutional investors (34%), Paratus employees (2.6%) and retail investors (1.5%).
“The funds will be strategically allocated to expand Paratus Namibia’s existing offerings by enhancing its core systems and infrastructure. This investment will enable the company to adapt and expand its business model to meet the evolving demands of customers and the market, while optimising capacity utilisation, leveraging economies of scale and generating increased returns from its current asset base,” the company said in a news release.
Paratus launched its fibre express route from Johannesburg to Europe in April 2024, following the completion of a 1,890- km fibre link from Johannesburg via Botswana to the Equiano subsea cable landing station at Swakopmund from where it continues to Lisbon, London and the rest of Europe. Paratus is the Google landing partner of the Equiano subsea cable to Namibia, which offers an alternative route out of South Africa and mitigates against possible fibre outages between Johannesburg and Cape Town.
FIXED-LINE TELEPHONE SERVICES
Telecom, the only company offering fixed-line telephone services in Namibia, is 100% owned by the government through NPTH. The number of subscribers has decreased from 193,045 in December 2017 to 85,814 in December 2022 – a decline of 56%. However, the number of fibre-to- the-home (FTTH) subscribers has increased from 252 to 17,169 during the same five-year period.
ACCESS TO INFORMATION
The Ministry of Information and Communication Technology (MICT) has made N$19 million available for the implementation of the Access to Information Act (No. 8 of 2022) during the 2024/25 financial year.
During her 2024/25 budget motivation, Information and Communication Technology Minister Emma Theofelus told the National Assembly, “This piece of legislation seeks to address the important issues of government transparency and to guarantee our citizens’ freedom of information and the right to access public information. It also aims to improve accountability and citizens’ relationship with government. Its regulations are due for tabling in Parliament during its current session. Following this, the Office of the Information Commissioner will be established to address the important issues of transparency – not just in the public sector but also in the private sector.”
She went on to say, “In preparation to fully support the implementation of the Access to Information legislation, we plan to conduct capacity building and orientation workshops for communication officers from offices, ministries, agencies, regional councils, local authorities and public entities.”
MICT BUDGET
The MICT has been allocated a budget of close to N$703 million for the 2024/25 financial year to promote access to information and ICT infrastructure development, to develop responsive ICT laws, policies and strategies, and to maintain operational efficiencies.
Minister Theofelus said in her budget motivation speech that there have been significant upgrades from 2G to 3G and 3G to 4G across the country, resulting in broadband coverage for 85% of the population. She further said the Namibia Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) aims to achieve 100% coverage through the implementation of direct-to- home (DTH) satellite technology, which will provide viewers and listeners with improved signal quality and a wider range of channels.
ICT AT A GLANCE
- Namibia’s ICT Development Index score (2023): 68.8
- Fixed-line telephone subscriptions per 100 (2023): 10.7
- Mobile cellular subscriptions per 100 (2023): 111
- Households with internet per 100 (2022): 63.2
- Individuals using internet per 100 (2022): 62.6