Vodacom, GSMA, Qualcomm Bring High-Speed Internet to Tanzania

Vodacom, supported by the GSMA Development Fund and by Qualcomm, has connected Internet cafes in three of Tanzania‚s cities to its HSPA mobile broadband network. Run by local entrepreneurs, each Internet cafe is equipped with several computer terminals connected to Vodacom's HSPA network, which can provide download speeds of up to 7.2 megabits per second.

Tanzanians will be able to pay a small fee to use the computer terminals. The initial three Internet cafes, in Dar es Salaam, Dodoma and Arusha, will be followed by more cafes in other parts of Tanzania. Housed in converted shipping containers, the cafes also will sell other Vodacom products and services, such as airtime vouchers, payphone calls and handset recharging, as well as acting as an agent for the M-pesa mobile money transfer service.