The Role of Competition Law in Promoting Access to Telecommunication Services in Tanzania

Abstract

As of June 2023, the percentage of Tanzanians who had access to a telephone was more than one hundred per cent. However, this has not always been so. For example, in 1997, there was a telephone density of 0.32 per cent. This average was much lower than those of neighbouring Kenya (0.92), the Southern African Development Community (SADC) (3.4), Asia (3.86), and Europe (35.36). Fast forward a little over twenty years and practically everyone in Tanzania now has access to a telephone. This chapter, among other things, argues that establishing favourable legislative and regulatory frameworks that encourage the competitive provision of telecommunication services has directly contributed to these developments. As a result, the chapter's primary argument is that the implementation of these frameworks has directly contributed to increased access to telecommunications services, which in turn has contributed to the achievement of the SDGs.