Vodacom to end connection with TMcel

The mobile phone company Vodacom-Mocambique (a subsidiary of the South African company Vodacom) has threatened to end its interconnection with the publicly owned company TMcel, which would make it impossible for TMcel subscribers to ring Vodacom numbers. A Vodacom press release says it has been forced to take this decision because of a large debt run up by TMcel. It says the debt currently stands at 600 million meticais (about 9.7 million US dollars, at current exchange rates), arising from TMcel’s alleged failure to comply with the interconnection contract between the two companies.

This contract allows subscribers to each of the companies to make phone calls and send messages to subscribers of the other network. Vodacom threatens that the interconnection will end as from Thursday, in order to prevent any further growth of the debt. Vodacom claims that the debt has been accumulating since 2018. Vodacom’s decision means that, as from Thursday, no TMcel subscriber will be able to make a call to any Vodacom number. But Vodacom subscribers will still be able to ring TMcel numbers.

The text message (SMS) service will remain unaltered, the Vodacom release say, “in order to ensure communication because Vodacom values above all the fact that it is providing a public service, with the aim of bringing good quality communication to all Mozambicans”. TMcel has not yet replied to Vodacom’s threat.