Airtel Congo

Company Overview

Airtel Congo is the second largest mobile network operator in the Republic of the Congo. The company was founded in 1998 as then MSI Cellular Investments, changing branding to Celtel in 2004, and again in 2005 following its acquisition by Zain Group. In June 2010 the company was purchased by Airtel Africa and subsequently rebranded to Airtel in November that year.

Bharti Airtel acquired competitor Waridtel Congo from its UAE-based owner Abu Dhabi Group in June 2014, integrating its customer base and assets under the Airtel brand.

The company provides 2G GSM services over 900 and 1800 MHz bands, and in October 2011 launched 3G UMTS services over the B1 (2100 MHz) band, providing up to 21 Mbps over HSPA+. Airtel later added U900 services as part of its African Network Excellence program.

Airtel Congo launched 4G LTE services over an unconfirmed band in December 2018. It is speculated that Airtel uses a recently awarded 20 MHz spectrum allotment to provide a B7 (2600 MHz) service.