Millicom-owned African carrier Tigo said this week that it has acquired more than 250,000 new customers in less than three months following its return to two troubled eastern provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

Since June, more than two thousand new customers a day have joined the Tigo network in the North and South Kivu provinces, where the firm recently re-entered during an extended period of civil unrest.

The operator said that many local residents have been able to connect with families and friends by telephone for the very first time and in order to further cater to demand, Tigo aims to make 3G services available in the region by year end.

At two thirds the size of Western Europe, DRC is the largest country in Sub-Saharan Africa by area and the eleventh largest in the world, with a population of over 75 million. The country is only now emerging from a brutal civil war ongoing since 1998 and now hosts the United Nation’s largest deployed peacekeeping force with almost 20,000 personnel on the ground.

Tigo also announced the launch of two toll-free phone lines accessible to every Kivu resident, linking them directly through to the police and emergency services.