Zantel Overview
Zantel (Zanzibar Telecom) is a Tanzanian operator owned by e& (Etisalat). It started in Zanzibar and later extended into parts of mainland Tanzania. As of 2018 it had about 1.15 million users. Vodacom, Airtel, and Tigo (now associated with Zantel) lead the Tanzanian mobile market. Zantel serves Zanzibar and parts of the mainland, on a smaller scale than Vodacom, Airtel, and Halotel. It sells mobile, broadband, and enterprise services.
Zantel provides IoT connectivity for enterprises in Zanzibar and parts of mainland Tanzania, supporting scenarios such as tourism, fisheries, and agriculture.
Zantel facts
- Founded: 1990s (Zanzibar)
- Headquarters: Zanzibar, Tanzania
- Shareholders: e& (Etisalat)
- Users in 2018: About 1.15 million
- Coverage: Zanzibar and parts of mainland Tanzania
- Market: Competes with Vodacom, Airtel, Halotel, etc.
- Network: 2G, 3G, 4G
- Business: Mobile, broadband, enterprise services
Development History and Milestones
Zantel originated in Zanzibar and was one of the first mobile operators there. After e& (Etisalat) took a stake, it expanded to mainland Tanzania. The mainland Tanzanian market is dominated by Vodacom and Airtel, while Zantel focuses on Zanzibar and certain areas of the mainland. Zanzibar is a tourist destination, and Zantel supports communication needs for tourism, fisheries, and other sectors.
Core Technical Capabilities
Zanzibar
Zanzibar-focused, communications for tourism and fisheries
e& group
Middle East and Africa resources of the e& group
4G network
4G in Zanzibar and in parts of the mainland
Island coverage
Coverage of the Zanzibar islands
IoT Applications
Zantel offers IoT connectivity in Zanzibar and in some mainland areas. Tourism, fisheries, and agriculture are the likely uses. Zanzibar's tourism sector needs connectivity for hotels and boats. The base is small, so deployments stay local.
Competitive Advantages
- Zanzibar: A significant operator in the Zanzibar market
- e& backing: Support from the Middle Eastern group
- Tourism: Connectivity for Zanzibar's visitor economy
- Islands: Operating experience across the Zanzibar archipelago
Radio Conditions between Zanzibar's Two Islands
Stone Town is dense; Pemba and the sea routes are sparse
Zantel started its network in Zanzibar. The radio technologies are GSM, WCDMA, and LTE. Coverage is concentrated on Unguja: Stone Town, the airport, and the tourist strip. Pemba, and the water between the two islands, is clearly thinner. There is service in parts of the mainland, but it is not a network of the same density as a national host network. Choose a module for GSM at 900/1800 MHz plus LTE at 1800 MHz. Whether low-band LTE is open on the islands has to be asked separately. Do not treat a frequency measurement from Dar es Salaam as if it were Zanzibar. A terminal on a boat, at a dock, or at the edge of mangrove will reselect often, or be left with only 2G. Fifth generation is not an IoT assumption on this network. LTE measured in a Stone Town hotel does not prove that a fishing village on Pemba, or a route offshore, is usable.
How terminals behave in the tourist season and in the fishery
Connectivity demand on the islands rises and falls with the tourist season. Hotels, cruise dispatch, and seasonal checkout terminals come online together in the peak season and stay quiet for a long time in the off season. Fisheries and short water crossings need a terminal that tolerates salt spray, and the reporting points follow docks rather than roads. Zantel's enterprise products are small in scale. An APN, a fixed IP, and bulk suspend and resume are mostly manual tickets, not a self-service platform. The shareholder background helps when an international roaming intention is being discussed, but a local SIM does not become the group's global IoT SIM because of that. The countries included in roaming follow this contract. The general distinction of subscription scope in IoT roaming is a useful comparison. Payments, broadband, and a machine SIM are three product lines. Do not use a home-broadband account to carry a sensor. Halotel on the mainland is not the same network either. Accepting an island project with a mainland SIM will produce the wrong conclusion.
Archipelago permits, salt spray, and small-scale account opening
Device and SIM administration at the level of the United Republic of Tanzania must meet TCRA requirements. A fixed installation and a landing facility on Zanzibar also need the extra steps required by the local authority at the time. The two sets of documents do not replace each other. Real-name registration of the SIM, and APN authentication, follow the account-opening email. If a PDP context is hard-coded in the module to a mainland operator's access point, the SIM can attach and still fail to set up data. Choose outdoor connectors for a salt-spray environment. That is a hardware condition. Testing should include Stone Town, the airport road, and one town on Pemba. If the service is on a boat, add a real route. Small-scale account opening means a change of APN, or an addition to an allow-list, is counted in working days. Do not schedule the project as if a large platform could open it in minutes. Swings in island power also take base stations out of service from time to time. The terminal needs a local cache.
Spice-growing areas, ferries, and keeping the number in the off season
LTE in a Stone Town hotel describes only the core of Unguja. Once the route leaves the beachfront hotel strip and enters the spice-growing areas, cells thin out clearly. Pemba needs a separate test in one town. If the service includes water transport between the two islands, record which generation the attach lands on along the real route. Open water cannot be replaced by signal bars at the dock. Home broadband, a payment account, and the machine-SIM access point are three sets of records. Do not write them onto the same test SIM. After a connector is replaced in a salt-spray environment, test the attach again. Do not reuse the conclusion from an indoor sample. Store regulatory documents for the United Republic and local procedures for Zanzibar in separate booklets. Before a terminal stays quiet through a long off-season stretch, confirm the number-retention and balance rules on the account form. Tariff habits from the peak tourist season do not apply to the months outside the fishing season. Schedule an allow-list change in working days. Do not compress integration into a single day. A test report from a mainland network cannot go into Zantel's acceptance pack. One power cut on the island can cover a whole passage. The cache in the terminal has to last at least through that offline stretch, rather than depending on a live connection. Tree cover in the spice-growing areas blocks a low antenna. Mount the terminal on a pole above the canopy before deciding that the problem is the network. Off-season number retention and peak-season tariffs sit in different clauses. Read the account form before a suspension, rather than asking a hotel front desk. A log for the route between the islands should name the departure dock and the arrival dock. Otherwise it is impossible to tell dock coverage from an interruption at sea.