MTN Uganda set for 75 p.c rise in money transfer subscribers

The Uganda Communications Commission projects revenues from the telecoms sector will increase at an annual rate of 25 to 30 per cent over the next five years, underpinned by a rapid uptake of internet services.

UCC head Patrick Mwesiga said the rate of mobile phone penetration was seen slowing over the next few years but said the market still held potential in a nation of 33 million people.

Uganda has six main telecommunications operators with MTN Uganda controlling more than half of the market.

Active SIM user numbers increased to 9.5 million by the end of last year from 3.5 million in 2006.

Mwesiga said internet penetration would grow rapidly because of the undersea cables like Seacom and TEAMS and EASSy which have landed at the (Kenyan) coast.”

Fibre optic

The arrival of the fibre optic has seen a fall in bandwidth tariffs in Kenya.

However many businesses and consumers still remain frustrated with connectivity speeds and prices.

Most Ugandans say they have seen little change in the quality of connection speeds even though a growing number of internet service providers are hooking up to the cables.

Mwesigwa said the problem had been the monopoly of Seacom and a limited national backbone infrastructure.

“We didn’t see a dramatic change when Seacom landed but now there’s competition and it will impact our market,” he said.

The UCC said industry players jointly invested $320 million last year compared to $73 million in 2006.