Uganda Telecom targets rural areas for growth

Tuesday, June 21, 2005

The heat in the telecommunication sector is high with players targeting virgin areas with new products. Bamuturaki Musinguzi asked Uganda Telecom Marketing Manager, Mr Hans M.F. Paulsen on the latest developments in the industry.

How much have you invested since privatisation in 2000?

Upon privatisation of Uganda telecom, we had to transform the company from a single provider into a competitive telecommunications provider with a wide range of services.
To achieve this we have had to invest over $125 million in the last 4 years. We revamped our landline network introduced new services – mobile, data and Internet provision resulting in the provision of the widest range of products.

What is your current mobile service coverage?

Our Mango [mobile phone service] coverage spreads across the country – you have border-to-border coverage. We are currently working on the gaps.
Recently we switched our Mango services in Kalangala, Katuna, Ibanda, Ruteete, Paidha and we are still moving on. We are spreading our services to at least 10 new communities every fortnight.

Can Ugandans afford reliable communication services?

There is room for growth in Uganda. Upon introduction of our mobile services Mango, we decided not to charge a monthly fee and also introduced convenient juice card denominations to make it easy for customers to communicate.

As the main Internet service provider we have also deliberately kept the rates low – it only costs Shs100 ($6 cents) at peak time or Shs70 ($4 cents) to access the Internet. The landline rates are still the most affordable means of communication in the country.
Interview found here.

Source: The Monitor