VENTURES AFRICA – A Mobile telecommunications duopoly has been broken as Bharti Airtel becomes Rwanda’s third telecom operator.

An investment arm of Bharti Airtel opened shop in the country as Bharti Airtel entered the Rwandan telecoms sector on Friday breaking the duopoly of MTN Rwanda and Tigo.

Airtel launched its operations last week although it was granted an operating licence in September last year. The Indian-based firm is set to invest $100 million in three years in East African country.

Telecom industry observers believe that the entry of Airtel into the Rwandan market will come with its strategic pricing and innovation that will stir up the sector and increase competition thus giving consumers a choice.

Rwanda’s mobile penetration rate presently stands at 46 per cent as of December 2011.

Bharti Airtel is among the top five global mobile telecommunications operators in the world, with operations in 19 countries across Asia and Africa with over 230 million subscribers. Rwanda becomes the telecom’s 17th operation across Africa, joining Uganda and Tanzania in the East African region

The official launching was attended by high-ranking government officials and Airtel Group’s CEO Manoj Kohli. The brand promised better broadband availability to the market as  its indentity comes with a promise to meet the emerging needs of customers with innovative, affordable and relevant solutions to empower consumers.