TNM : The pioneers of mobile phone Technology
17/May/ 2011

TNM is the pioneer of mobile phone telecommunications in Malawi. Having been launched in 1996, this mobile telephone service provider has been part of the life of many people in Malawi. The brand has helped them to reach their potential by providing the tools that make this happen.

TNM has remained a reliable communication partner for big businesses, small enterprises and individuals for 15 years. The network provider has been providing broadband internet services for mobile phones and other mobile gadgets such as dongles; and these mobile internet services run on normal TNM SIM cards.

TNM marketing communications manager Sobhuza Ngwenya said the service was introduced to create convenience on internet accessibility to people in the country.

"Mobile internet helps individuals and businesses to achieve their potential by having access to the internet without geographical boundaries. Before these services, people had to be in an office or at internet bureaus to be able to access internet; but with this service, internet can be accessed from anywhere, and at anytime" said Ngwenya.

Towards the end of the year 2009, TNM introduced 3.5G internet which allows internet browsing, video streaming, video calling, video conferencing, video uploads and downloads and mobile internet Television among other things.

3.5G Mobile Service has more bandwidth and unlimited high speed internet access. It is fast, with the maximum download speed of 3.6 Megabytes per second.

Among other benefits for mobile internet service, users only pay for what they use, and not for the time they are connected as well as instantaneous connectivity because there is no dial up needed.

In addition, users are able to take voice calls while they keep their internet connection, which is suspended during calls but automatically reconnected after the call has ended.

Ngwenya said for customers to be able to use the mobile internet services, they have to have internet enabled handsets. For any use on the internet, users pay one Tambala per Kilobyte and K10.24 per Megabyte. He said the adoption rate for the service is high, especially among the youth for their use of the social networking website - Facebook.

Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), managers and executives are also seen to be adopting the mobile internet service because of the convenience that lies in using the service anywhere as long as they have a TNM internet dongle.

"Managers and executives like the dongles because then it becomes easier for them to connect with colleagues and business partners as they travel locally or outside the country," he said.

3.5G Mobile internet is available in all cities and major towns while Edge, the first broadband internet service that TNM provided is available anywhere as long as there is TNM network.

To activate the service on the phones, users have to text the word "internet* to 999 and then settings will be sent to their mobile phone. Alternatively, customers can have this service activated at any TNM shop.

International calling with customers' interests at heart, TNM has simplified international calling by allowing its customers the convenience of dialing straight to their country of choice by simply starting with plus, then the country code of the country they intend to call and then the destination number.

"Gone are the days when people would call the operator first or ask someone to make the international call on their behalf," said Ngwenya. TNM has the most affordable rates for international calls. For instance, calls to any Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) countries are charged only K80 per minute while calls to any G20 countries cost K120 per minute. Calls made to the rest of the world cost K160 per minute.

"There are also Mtolo Bundles for making international calls ranging from K57 per minute for calls to SADC or G20 countries; customers can choose between Mtolo bundles K800 000 or K8 000, he said.

A lot of business people as well as those who have friends or relatives outside the country have braced this product because calls can be made from anywhere, even from the village. Roaming with a wide range of roaming partners across the world, TNM allows its network users to roam on voice calls, while to some selected destinations, users can roam on internet.

Relatively new to this product is Prepaid Roaming whereby the network's users simply need to have TNM airtime when they travel to other countries. TNM Roaming is available in all SADC countries and almost all of Africa, all European Union Countries, Turkey, Canada, United States of America, India, China and Brazil, among others.

For prepaid customers who would like to roam while outside the country, they will be able to find out the list of our partners from TNM website www.tnm.co.mw or talk to our customer care agent on 105," he said.

As for post paid roaming which has been available for over ten years, those desiring to travel they have to ask TNM to activate the service for them. Among other benefits Ngwenya said roaming minimises disruption of business because people can still be reached on their TNM phones even if they are not in Malawi.

"When you roam you do not miss a call from all those people who really need to communicate with you. In addition, TNM provides data roaming services so that you can browse the internet while you are out of the country. TNM also supports those who roam from almost all major countries around the world. So when visitors want to keep their contacts, they can roam on TNM by choosing CP 900," said Ngwenya. Ngwenya said more and more networks from other countries are coming in and soon roaming will be available allowing for connection all around the world.

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