Malawi’s incumbent telco, MTL, was finally privatised in 2006 following several unsuccessful attempts. A second national operator was licensed in May 2007 and the county's third mobile licence is expected later in the year. Malawi’s telecommunications sector is among the least developed in Africa with a fixed-line penetration rate below 1%, despite more than doubling the number of fixed-line connections in the past five years. The mobile sector has grown more than ten-fold during the same period, but market penetration is still very low in this sub-sector as well, around 5%. Several ISPs are rolling out wireless broadband networks, and the planned liberalisation of Internet telephony (VoIP) should create further opportunities.
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| 1. | | Synopsis |
| 2. | | Key statistics |
| 3. | | Telecommunications market |
| 3.1 | | Overview of Malawi’s telecom market |
| 4. | | Regulatory environment |
| 4.1 | | Malawi Communications Act 1998 |
| 4.1.1 | | Telecommunications goals |
| 4.2 | | ICT Policy |
| 4.3 | | Regulatory authority |
| 4.3.1 | | Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (MACRA) |
| 4.4 | | Telecom sector liberalisation in Malawi |
| 4.4.1 | | Second national operator (SNO) |
| 4.5 | | Privatisation of Malawi Telecom |
| 4.6 | | Interconnection |
| 5. | | Fixed network operator in Malawi |
| 5.1 | | Malawi Telecommunications Ltd |
| 6. | | Telecommunications infrastructure |
| 6.1 | | National telecom network |
| 6.2 | | International infrastructure |
| 6.2.1 | | Submarine cable networks |
| 6.2.2 | | Satellite networks |
| 7. | | Broadband and Internet market |
| 7.1 | | Overview |
| 7.1.1 | | Internet statistics |
| 7.2 | | Malawi’s ISP market |
| 7.3 | | Broadband market |
| 7.3.1 | | Overview |
| 7.4 | | Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) |
| 8. | | Mobile communications |
| 8.1 | | Overview of Malawi’s mobile market |
| 8.1.1 | | Mobile statistics |
| 8.2 | | Major mobile operators |
| 8.2.1 | | Telekom Networks Malawi Ltd |
| 8.2.2 | | Celtel Malawi |
| 8.2.3 | | Third mobile licence |
| 9. | | Broadcasting market |
| 10. | | Related reports |
Table 1 – Country statistics – 2006 |
| Table 2 – Telephone network statistics – 2006 |
| Table 3 – Internet provider statistics – 2006 |
| Table 4 – Internet user statistics – 2006 |
| Table 5 – Mobile statistics – 2006 |
| Table 6 – National telecommunications authorities |
| Table 7 – Fixed lines in service and teledensity – 1995 - 2006 |
| Table 8 – Internet users and penetration rate – 1997 - 2006 |
| Table 9 – Internet host computers – 1998 - 2005 |
| Table 10 – Mobile operators, technology, subscribers and annual growth – 2006 |
| Table 11 – Mobile subscribers and penetration rate – 1995 - 2006 |
