The company said it is cutting back on its budget in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Tanzania after the mobile market in the two countries were hit by intense competition, weak economic conditions and higher excise duties, according to company CEO Pieter Uys. As a result, the two operations will not be expanding their networks.

Instead, the company said it has set aside about US$38 million to be channeled to Mozambique, where Vodacom has a growing operation. The company also said its Lesotho operation has delivered strong revenue growth in the period under review.

However, the company's international mobile revenue declined by 8.1 percent for the financial quarter ended June 30, 2009, compared to the same period last year.

Amos Manyarara, company communications offer for the Southern African mobile communications market, said the organization has always been concerned that high taxes in certain African countries were negatively impacting growth.

"One way to make the mobile communication business profitable is to revise the tax regime in order reduce operation costs," Manyarara said.