(Ecofin Agency) - Struggling to stay competitive, Tmcel is focused on boosting service quality to stand out in the national telecom market, where it faces competition from Vodacom and Movitel.

Mozambique’s state-owned telecom company, Tmcel, has teamed up with Swedish tech giant Ericsson to upgrade its operational and business support systems. Announced on October 3, the partnership aims to enhance network performance, offer more personalized services to customers, and accelerate the digital transformation of Tmcel.

“At Tmcel, our commitment to Mozambique is rooted in providing reliable and innovative services to our customers. Our partnership with Ericsson is a key step in fulfilling that commitment. By modernizing our monetization suite, we improve our operational efficiency and deliver better, more responsive services to our subscribers,” said Mahomed Mussá, chairman of Tmcel's management committee. He also emphasized that this move would help meet the community's evolving needs and contribute to the country’s digital future.

This system upgrade is part of the Mozambican government's efforts to revive Tmcel, which has faced financial challenges. The company reported a loss of 2.1 billion meticals (USD 32.8 million) in 2023, following a loss of 4.3 billion meticals in 2022. By the end of 2023, Tmcel had liabilities of 37.9 billion meticals, exceeding its total assets of 27.8 billion meticals.

Todd Ashton, vice president and head of Ericsson for Southern and East Africa, highlighted that the partnership would give Tmcel the flexibility and scalability it needs to adapt to changing customer demands and remain competitive. Between 2017 and 2021, Tmcel saw its mobile subscriber base drop by 69%, reaching around 2 million customers. By the end of 2023, the company had 1.84 million mobile customers and 27,466 fixed-line clients, competing in a market alongside Vodacom and Movitel.