CAIRO: Rwanda's telecom regulator has warned the country's top two telecom operators to improve their networks or face penalties. The Rwanda Utilities Regulatory Agency (RURA) said that the two rivals – the country's largest based on subscriptions – have had a recent history of outages and poor network coverage. MTN is already paying $5,000 daily for fines by RURA for the past two weeks and if dropped calls and poor coverage continues, the regulator has promised to take more divisive action against the African giant. With the rise of Airtel-Rwanda, which is looking to take some of MTN's 60 percent market share, it could affect the customer base, as some subscribers have already reported leaving MTN for other providers.. RURA Director Regis Gatarayiha said in a statement published by local media that “despite having issued warnings to the company earlier in March this year, RURA had not noticed any improvements from the MTN-Rwanda compelling the regulator to play tough." “I know they are trying to fix it, but it has persisted since March this year and this is appropriate according to the policy,” Regis Gatarayiha MTN has been condemned over the past few months for what analysts have said is a persistently poor network, “characterized by weak signals, weak internet and a high rate of dropped calls resulting in an avalanche of complaints from the public." In a statement, the regulator said, “Within its mandate and powers conferred to it by the Law N0 44/2001 governing communications, RURA decided to issue a confirmation enforcement notice and to impose a penalty to MTN Rwanda over persistently poor quality services.”
