Denis Opudo
Recently, Airtel Malawi rolled out the 4th Generation (4G) 4 G Long Term Evolution (LTE) mobile technologies. Malawi has for long been operating on the 3G network. Airtel Malawi is on the move to meet the high demand of the customers and market. There has also been an increased demand for seamless internet connectivity in Malawi. Therefore, the state internet should be stable and with reinforced data services. Currently, the network is available in Mzuzu, Lilongwe, and Blantyre. The company also had plans to offer fast and reliable internet services to its customers.
The launch of the 4G network is a way of developing the mobile user’s experience. It will also ensure improved innovation in the country. The 4G/LTE mobile network has been present in the global market for sometimes. But there has been slow penetration into the other markets. This has made it hard to get into the Malawian communication market. The increasing number of people with smartphone increased the demand of the network. The high number of people in possession of smartphones calls for a call for faster and reliable data.
The Malawian government aims at making information and technology accessible to the people. The rolling of the 4G helps it a strong cornerstone to achieving its aim. This is according to Minister of Information and Communications Technology Nicholas Dausi. Moreover, the move to roll out the 4G network has placed the country on the global map. Besides, it has made it meet the global standards of mobile technology.
There is need of diversifying services across all the sectors relies on network distribution. It will be a huge step towards the economic growth in Malawi. Access to business and closing of business deals will also get easier. It will also be facilitated by the fast and reliable network distribution. The fact that the move will offer an improved number of job creation in the country cannot be washed away. The country has an internet penetration of less than 5%. This is according to International Telecommunications Union (ITU). The statistics place Malawi amongst the African countries with the lowest internet penetration.
