Smart Telecom Burundi (Lacell SU) was originally owned by the Russian-owned Timeturns Holdings of Cyprus.
[1] In July 2015 mobile carriers in Burundi included Econet Leo, with 2.6 million customers, Lumitel (Viettel), Smart and Tempo Africell.
[6] In the first quarter of 2022 there were 7,798,885 telephone subscribers in Burundi, divided between the four carriers: Econet Leo, Lumitel, Smart and Onatel.
The general manager of Lacell SU stated in a letter of 19 August 2022 said it had paid all its tax arrears of 6.6 billion BIF as of 30 May 2022.
[8] Separately, the sales director claimed that the shut down order was made for political reasons, to benefit Lumitel, a subsidiary of Viettel.