MOBILE TELEPHONY : Despite offering the most competitive tariffs, Camtel struggles to compete with Orange and MTN

(LVDE) – Despite very competitive pricing, Camtel has failed to gain market share against giants Orange and MTN. With just 2.67% market share in 2024, the public operator faces significant challenges, despite an increase in both its subscriber base and revenue.

In 2024, Cameroon Telecommunications, known as Camtel, continues to carve out a place for itself in the mobile telephony sector through its Blue brand. According to data from the Telecommunications Regulatory Agency (ART), Camtel recorded an impressive 70.2% growth in its subscriber base, which rose from 1.2 million in 2023 to 2.08 million. At the same time, the operator’s mobile revenue increased by 20%, reaching CFA 16.8 billion. Despite these positive performances, Camtel holds only 2.67% of the market, reflecting a modest gain of 0.18 percentage points.

This improvement, however, is insufficient to catch up with Orange and MTN, which remain dominant in the market. Although Camtel offers some of the most competitive tariffs, its image among Cameroonian consumers is undermined by the perceived quality of its network. Indeed, Camtel’s attractive pricing for voice communications—where a flat rate of CFA 60 per minute is applied—has not been enough to offset the shortcomings perceived by users. Orange and MTN, for their part, charge CFA 61.2 and CFA 91.8 per minute respectively for off-net calls, creating a significant price gap in Camtel’s favor.

However, these price differences raise questions about the market structure, which the ART describes as “highly concentrated around two operators.” Such concentration can lead to abuses of dominant positions and anti-competitive behavior, with promotional practices that favor market leaders at the expense of genuine competition.

A key aspect to consider is Camtel’s role as the national concessionaire of telecommunications infrastructure, which generated CFA 33.7 billion in revenue in 2024 through the leasing of its capacity—particularly fiber-optic infrastructure—to other operators. These operating costs inevitably influence the pricing strategies of Orange and MTN.

Despite these advantages, Camtel’s qualitative performance raises concerns. The operator recorded the highest number of complaints relative to its size, with 119,444 complaints filed with the ART in 2024, representing 13.8% of total complaints. Moreover, its complaint resolution rate, at 97%, is the lowest in the sector, compared with 98% for Orange and 99% for MTN.

In summary, while Camtel offers competitive tariffs and has seen a notable increase in its subscriber base, competition with well-established players such as Orange and MTN remains a major challenge. To secure a significant position in the market, the public operator will need to focus decisively on improving service quality and optimizing its network, while maintaining attractive pricing. In an increasingly competitive Cameroonian telecom market, Camtel’s ambition to become a key player in mobile telephony will require strong and innovative strategies.

Raphael Mforlem