Tigo Tanzania is giving its cutomers free access to WhatsApp

While MTN and Vodacom are waging war on OTTs like WhatsApp, Viber, Skype, Hangouts and so on in South Africa, in other markets telecommunications are finding innovative ways to get in on the action with them. Tigo, Tanzania’s leading teleco, has announced that it is going to offer WhatsApp for free in Tanzania to its 10 million users on its weekly and monthly internet packages.

Tigo is the first service provider to offer free access to WhatsApp in Tanzania. Customers using iPhone, Blackberry, Android and Nokia Symbian60-phones will be able to take advantage of this offer. In South Africa, we have seen Cell C offer the same deal to its customers. Notably, Cell C has openly criticised the proposed OTT regulations.

Read more: WhatsApp gains 100m monthly active users in three months, passes 1b like a boss

“This of course, is for customers with data-enabled devices. We want to encourage our non-smartphone user customers to acquire highly discounted smartphones sold in Tigo shops to be able to enjoy this new offer,” explained General Manager, Diego Gutierrez.

A few days ago, WhatsApp reported that it has reached one billion active monthly users. The popular instant messenger moved from 900 million active users to one billion in less than three months.

Over the years, Tigo has made serious moves to solidify its network. All across Tanzania, the company has launched over 500 network sites bringing to over 2 000 the total number of its network sites. The company has now set its sights on rural areas, it plans to double this investment by 2017 in terms of coverage and additional capacity networks.