Tanzania amends Electronic and Postal Communications Regulations to ease compliance, boost service quality

Dodoma. The Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA) has amended five Electronic and Postal Communications Regulations to ease reporting burdens on licensees and enhance service delivery standards across the communications sector.

The revised regulations, now available on the TCRA website (www.tcra.go.tz), introduce a requirement for licensees to enter into Service Level Agreements (SLAs) with corporate or directly connected customers, ensuring improved service accountability.

Additionally, the changes reduce the deadline for quarterly income statement submissions from 14 days to 21 days after the close of each quarter—providing operators with more time to meet regulatory obligations.

The updated framework applies to licensees in key categories, including network facility construction and ownership, service provision, application services, and broadcasting content. Network facility licensees are authorised to construct and maintain communications infrastructure, while service providers may use their own or others’ networks. Application services cover offerings such as data and content-driven solutions.

TCRA also manages certification for electronic communications services and regulates the use of communication resources, including number allocations and radio frequencies. The regulator operates one of Africa’s and the world’s most advanced Type-Approval Laboratories for testing imported electronic equipment.

The January–March 2025 Communications Statistics Report, released by TCRA Director General Dr Jabiri Bakari, highlights strong sectoral growth. Network service licences rose by 26 percent year-on-year, from 35 in March 2024 to 44 in March 2025.

Other notable increases include network services licences (from 14 to 18), application services (from 135 to 144), and postal and courier services (from 134 to 151). Type-approval certificates surged by 124.5 percent—from 2,281 to 5,120.

Broadcasting also expanded, with radio stations increasing from 231 to 250, and subscription TV providers rising from 25 to 31. Free-to-air TV stations stood at 30 as of March.

Deployment of new mobile base stations and network nodes contributed to a 35 percent jump in SIM card registrations, from 67 million in September 2023 to over 90 million in March 2025.

Internet subscriptions also soared, driven by application service licences, increasing 67 percent from 29 million in March 2021 to 49.3 million by March this year.