Africa-Press – Mozambique. The three mobile phone companies operating in Mozambique (TMcel, Vodacom and Movitel) hope to restore their services in full in Palma. Mocimboa da Praia and Muidumbe districts, in the northern province of Cabo Delgado, within a matter of days.
The three districts were severely affected by terrorist attacks which disrupted fixed and mobile telecommunications. Repairing the networks is now possible, following defeats inflicted on the terrorists by the joint forces of Mozambique and Rwanda.
According to a report on Radio Mozambique, technical staff from the three companies are working on the ground to restore their services (including access to the Internet), in the protective presence of the defence and security services.
ISIS terrorists occupied Mocimboa da Praia in August 2020, but they were driven out on 7 August this year. In Palma mobile phone equipment was destroyed in a terrorist raid on 24 March, but the Mozambican forces and their allies are now back in control of Palma town.
Cited by the Radio, the Cabo Delgado Provincial Director of Transport and Communications, Nelson Pereira, said there is still some work to be done.
“In the case of Vodacom, in Mocimboa da Praia right now we have voice communication, but not data”, he said, “while in Palma, all the work has been done. We also have a Movitel team on the ground restoring the network”.
Pereira added that the state-owned TMcel will soon install mobile phone masts in Muidumbe and Palma. “TMcel already has all the material in Mueda, and all that’s missing is to transport it to Palma and Muidumbe”, he said.
The reactivation of the mobile phone network includes the mobile wallets, a service through which many financial transactions are undertaken in remote rural areas that have no easy access to banking services.
