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Tanzania plans a comprehensive survey of its information and communication technology infrastructure. According to the Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority, the study will help establish the extent of the market, the optimum number of operators in the sector and the rationale for further opening of the market in future. Already the authority has invited consultancy firms to bid for the study, which will also consider the increase of competition in some segments and the lack of competition in other segments of local market, and the recognition of the increased ICT role in the country's social, economic and culture development. The study will focus on the economic legal and technical aspects of the industry, then identify the factors necessary for take-off and give recommendations.
The study will look at dynamism in the ICT sector, the impact of convergence on the local market, and significant changes of the communications sector over the past few years, which have seen new players enter the market with introduction of new technologies and services. The international trend of allowing service providers to operate in a competitive environment with minimum regulatory intervention, except where competition is lacking, and the concept that no operators should be allowed to control the market, will also feature in the study. The economic, legal and technical dimensions of network services will also be studied. Economic factors to be considered are liberalisation, competition, profitability, investment, as well as issues about sovereignty and equity. ICT in Tanzania is not integrated. Several institutions have fibre-optic cables, but work independently leaving the nation to rely on satellites for communications. Until the Eastern Africa Submarine Cable System (EASSy) fibre optic cable is commissioned, the country - together with its neighbours - will continue using satellites. Tanzania has five mobile telephone service providers of Zantel, Tigo, Vodacom, TTCL and Celtel. TTCL and Zantel also provide fixed line telephones.
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Technology 
