Telecom

Victims of WhatsApp joke

01-06-2020 The public prosecutor has demanded that the 4 journalists of Iwacu newspaper and their driver be sentenced to fifteen years in prison over a WhatsApp joke. There are also other penalties. The office of the Director of public prosecutions only based upon a message from Agnès Ndirubusa to incriminate (...)

Around 10% of Burundians have access to Internet

10-11-2019 Donatien Manirampa, Director General of the Agency for Regulatory and Control of Telecommunications in Burundi-ARCT says about 53% of Burundians are in possession of cell phones, but only around 10% of them have access to internet. “The internet penetration rate remains low due to the telecommunication antennas installed in (...)

Number of internet users in Burundi is low, says ARCT

08-28-2019 In a workshop held on August 27th, The Burundi Agency of Telecommunication Regulation-ARCT has said very few Burundians use internet. “The penetration rate of internet usage in Burundi is currently inferior to 10%,” says Hermalas Nahimana, ARCT Acting Director. For him, there are several challenges regarding the evolution of (...)

Three hundred Burundian villages access Satellite TV thanks to Chinese support

03-01-2019 At least 300 Burundian villages are now having access to Satellite TV thanks to the support of Chinese Embassy in Burundi. Each village has received 20 decoders and three solar television kits. At least 6900 beneficiaries profited from the project. Longin Bizimana, Technical Director at Startimes, a company that (...)

Burundi: Lumitel employees denounce unfair working conditions

08-08-2018 About 400 staff members of Vietel Burundi Cell Company known as “Lumitel” throughout the country have organized a demonstration peaceful march in the morning of 7 August to stand against harsh and unfair working conditions. All of them were wearing black shirts and T-shirts. “We would like to show (...)

Five janitors fired by Lumitel speak of unfair dismissal

02-02-2018 Lumitel telephone company has dismissed this 1 February five janitors who have been working at the headquarters of this company for over three years. Victims say they were illegally dismissed. They ask to be given their due. “Today, I have gone to work as usual. When I arrived at (...)

Telecommunication ministry reassures theft victims through foreign calls

06-13-2017 Many Burundians say they have got missed calls by the following foreign numbers: +22478000546, +22478000542, +22478000556 and +5321647912 from 9 June. They say they lost all their airtime credits when they tried to call back the numbers. The ministry of telecommunication reassures the victims and says the issue is (...)

Burundi: ICTs infrastructure left unexploited because of lack of culture

05-16-2017 Minister of Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) says, despite the country having enough basic infrastructure, Burundi falls back in the use of ICTs. “We have found that Burundi has a fairly well-developed ICT infrastructure. But the observation we make, bitterly noteworthy, is that we are still deficient in terms of (...)

Burundi Agency of Telecommunication Regulation to improve internet services

01-19-2017 “The rate of entry of internet is 8.2% in Burundi while the medium rate in East Africa is 30%”, said Déogratias Rurimunzu, Managing Director of Burundi Agency in charge of Telecommunication Regulation (ARCT). An improvement is needed. The rate of entry of internet shows that few people in the (...)

Metropolitan Area Network launched in Capital Bujumbura

12-20-2016 Alongside the official inauguration of digital television, Burundi President, Pierre Nkurunziza, has introduced the optical fibre Metropolitan Area Network (MAN) on this 19 December 2016. The event marked an important step towards the increase of the penetration of information and communication technologies that Nestor Bankumukunzi, the Minister in charge (...)