MTL explains shift from mobile phone business
Malawi Telecommunications Limited (MTL) has faulted the code division multiple access (CDMA)—a channel access method used by various radio communication technologies—saying it was not feasible for its mobile phone business.
In an interview on Thursday in Blantyre, MTL chief executive officer Harry Gombachika said the technology was expensive to run; hence, could not compete with the Global System for Mobile communication (GSM)-based service providers.
GSM is a second generation digital mobile telephone standard using a variation of time division multiple access.
Gombachika announced a shift of focus to corporates, stressing that they will only revert to mobile phones when it starts to make business sense.
“We are coming up with other innovative means and in the near future we will do a feasibility study and we may come back once everything is sorted out.
“But for now, we will focus on corporates as almost all the big organisations in the country run on our infrastructure,” he said.
MTL chief commercial officer Gladson Kuyeri flaunted the company’s 90-year operations in the country, adding they will continue to transform people’s lives through telecommunication.
MTL, a subsidiary of Press Corporation Limited (PCL), decommissioned its mobile phone services last year and its consumer Internet services which uses dongles and routers.
