Celtel appoints Paraguayan to lead new team

Zain Group has appointed Rene Meza as the managing director of Celtel Kenya, its subsidiary.

The appointment of Meza, the former chief executive officer of mobile operator Millicom Tanzania (Tigo), completes a realignment of Celtel Kenya that has seen the exit of top-level management in recent months.

Meza, who takes over from David Murray, said Celtel intends to invest US$381.4 million in the next two years to expand its network coverage to rural areas, work out a new distribution structure and offer affordable calling rates.

Meza, a Paraguayan who has worked on three continents, is expected to use his international experience to get Celtel Kenya in shape for the looming battle in the telecom market. The mobile phone industry is awaiting the entry of Econet Wireless and Telkom Kenya into the business.

“The expected entry of new players into the mobile phone market presents great opportunities for subscribers and players,” said Meza during his first media briefing, televised live.

A recent report by Renaissance Capital, however, indicates that Celtel not only failed to narrow its lag behind Safaricom in terms of market share, but actually lost subscribers in 2007.

“Previously we didn’t have a good distribution channel, which affected our performance, but we are working on new strategies to improve this so that we not only increase the number, but also ensure we are reachable throughout the country,” Meza said.

Since May, Celtel has been rolling out new tariffs that have made it the cheapest service provider in the market. Meza says the unlimited talk tariff that the company introduced early this month was one of the products Celtel will use to offer value to its subscribers. Service providers are also in talks with the Communication Commission of Kenya to determine how to further reduce interconnection rates, he said.