Today, Uganda’s communications sector is one of the fastest growing in Africa. As in the rest of the continent, this is largely due to the rapid expansion of mobile telephony. According to statistics from UCC, the number of telephone subscribers had reached 10 million in March 2009 — up from more than 8.7 million in December 2008 — which is about one-third of the country’s population. Majority of the subscriptions (90%) are mobile phone subscribers while others are fixed-line owners (see Figure 1).
There are about 150,000 main landlines installed using UTL or MTN landlines, and about 20 million cellphone subscribers to the MTN, Airtel, Warid Telecom, Orange, K2 telecom, Smile and UTL respectively. The internet country code is .ug
- Telephones – main lines in use: 54,074 (1998)
- Telephones – mobile cellular: 9,000 (1998)
Telephone system:
Though in the past years the telephone system was seriously inadequate with a few cellular systems, the telecommunication business has grown to about 8 players who have made a sharp increase in the number of main lines and accessibility to internet based communications; e-mail and Internet services are available.
Domestic:
There is easy intercity traffic by wire, microwave radio relay, and radiotelephone communication stations, fixed and mobile cellular systems for short range traffic international: satellite earth stations.
International Calls
It is easier and affordable to make calls out of uganda, to several countries. Cheap packages and bundles are available from several service providers for calls to popular destinations such as USA, India, China, United Kingdom etc.
Regulations
Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) is the country’s regulator of the communications sector. UCC was established in 1998 by the Uganda Communications Act (Cap 106 Laws of Uganda) to facilitate and enable the development of a modern communications sector and infrastructure in the country.
There is a remarkable improvement in the telecommunications sector, both in capacity and distribution. The population coverage for mobile telephony is close to 100 per cent, while geographical coverage is about 65 per cent.
How ICT has impacted Communication
Developments in ICTs have dramatically changed the way information is collected, stored, processed, disseminated and used, thus making it a powerful tool for modernization and development. Million of Ugandans are signed up on facebook, twitter, Whatsup and many young elite activists are endlessly sharing their opinions on blogs across the internet. This is aided by the increasing ownership of smartphones that are replacing old handsets that are now derided as belonging to ‘stone age’. Facebook and Twitter were once blocked by the government during the 2016 presidential election over fears that people might announce premature results. Officials are still warning of the potential dangers of social media to Uganda’s stability.
Citing what it calls ‘security ramifications of online activity that have begun to permeate the national consciousness’ Government under the Ministry of Information and Communications Technology developed a National Information Security Strategy (2011) which aims at addressing security challenges that are envisaged in this era of technological advances.
Other laws that came before or at the heels of this strategy include: the Regulation of Interception of Communications (RIC), 2010, which parliament hurriedly passed in the aftermath of the July 2010 bomb attacks, and allows for interception of communications and possible intrusion into personal communications. It also requires telecom companies to collect customers’ information, including name, address and identity number, and to take other measures to enable interception. A registration of all SIM card owners in Uganda exercise concluded on May 31, 2013, which made the monitoring easier.
Ministry of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) is a Government Ministry providing strategic and technical leadership on all matters of information and communications technologies.
The Ministry commonly known as Ministry of ICT is made up of a number of Directorates which include: Communications & Broadcasting Infrastructure, Information Technology & Information Management Services, and Department of Planning, Finance and Administration.
The Ministry has a number of affiliated institutions for support to achieve its mission. The institutions include;
- Uganda Communications Commission (UCC)
- National Information Technology Authority (NITA-U)
- Posta Uganda
- Uganda Telecommunication Limited
Information Technology in Uganda is at a turning point with tremendous opportunities emerging and has been named among the fastest growing industries in the country.