Airtel Tanzania

Airtel Tanzania Limited is a mobile network operator in Tanzania, and a subsidiary of Airtel Africa which is part of Bharti Airtel of India. The company was born out of the partial privatisation of the Tanzania Telecommunications Company Limited (TTCL) on 23 February 2001. The privatisation saw Celtel International, then known as MSI, and Detecon from Germany, acquire a 35% share from the Tanzanian Government. This consortium took over the board and management control of TTCL, effectively making it an autonomous company. In November 2001, Celtel Tanzania was licensed as a mobile operator. Following a poor financial performance of TTCL in 2000, Celtel International made an additional $4.96 million payment as per an "Expert Determination" agreement. In August 2005, Celtel Tanzania and TTCL legally separated, allowing each to manage its own financial and business operations. In September 2007, Celtel's parent company, MTC Group, was acquired by Zain, leading to the rebranding of Celtel Tanzania to Zain Tanzania. On 8 June 2010, Bharti Airtel purchased mobile operations in 15 African countries from Zain, including Zain Tanzania, which was subsequently renamed Airtel Tanzania.