Telecommunications
Structure and Policy
In January 1996, the
government adopted a Telecommunications Sector Policy Statement, setting
out the following objectives:
- Increasing teledensity to 2.0 lines
per 100 people;
- Improving facilities and services of
the telecommunications sector and introducing new ones; and
- Increasing the geographical
distribution of telecommunication services.
The Sector Policy
Statement has outlined the following strategy for meeting the above objectives:
- Splitting off the Uganda Posts and
Telecommunications Corporation (UPTC) established in 1983 into two separate entities:
Uganda Telecommunications Ltd (UTL) and Uganda Posts Limited (UPL);
- Establishing an independent
telecommunications regulator;
- Licensing a second national
operator; and
- Promoting competition in the
telecommunications sector.
A new Act, the Uganda
Communications Act 1997 (UC Act), which received presidential assent on
September 1997, has provided a framework for the development of a modern
telecommunications sector in the country. The UC has the
following objectives:
- Improving the penetration of
telecommunications services in the country;
- Encouraging private investment and
reducing government involvement in the sector; and
- Fostering competition.
The UC Act enabled the
creation of Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) as the sector's independent regulator,
and the split of UPTC into Uganda Telecom Ltd (UTL) and Uganda Post Ltd (UPL). The Uganda
Communications Commission (UCC) has issued the following licenses as of July 2000.
- National Telecommunications
Operations (2);
- Mobile Cellular Operations (3);
- Internet Service Provision (11);
- Public Payphone/ Fax Provision (15);
- Paging Service Provision (1);
- Customer Premises Block Wiring,
terminal equipment & maintenance & repair workshop (8);
- VSAT (7);
- ISM device vendor/installer (7);
- Public Internet service provision
(8).
The UCC is also engaged in:
- Advising the government on the grant
of major licences, such as grant of licenses to UTL and to the second national operator,
and authorising the provision of basic national and international telephony services,
cellular services, satellite services, etc.
- Assigning radio frequencies; and
- Establishing a tariff system and a
monitoring system.
As a result of the
1997 UC Act the government has undertaken a number of staged liberalisation measures to
modernise the telecommunications sector.
Until the end of 1998,
the Uganda Posts and Telecommunications Corporation (UPTC) remained the dominant player in
the telecommunications sector, pending the full operation and privatisation of the
national telecom, the Uganda Telecommunications Ltd (UTL). However, things are changing
with the licensing of other operators.
- In April 1998, Mobile
Telephone Networks (MTN) Uganda, was licensed by the government to become the
second telecommunication network. Accordingly MTN launched its mobile services in October
1998 and fixed services in January 1999. This is expected to increase the telephone
density in the country, and also marks the end of a monopoly enjoyed by the state-owned
Uganda Posts and Telecommunications Corporation.
- CelTel, a consortium of internationally acclaimed organisations, is the major
cellular telephone network in Uganda.The network covers the areas from Entebbe through
Kampala and all the way to Jinja and Iganga. The network is expected to expand toward
Masaka and Mbarara.
- STARCOM, a Uganda-registered company backed by a multi-million dollar investment
from Telenor (the Norwegian national telecom carrier), as well as by US and Ugandan
investors, includes a trunked mobile radio network, an international data network, and a
pay phone system.
The provision of
voice over the Internet has not yet materialised in Uganda as the five existing Internet Service Providers
(ISPs) licensed by UPTCs do not yet have the required
capacity to support the provision of Internet voice telephony. It is worth mentioning that
Uganda was one the first countries in sub-Saharan Africa to acquire full Internet
connection, and Internet services are only catered by private enterprises. By
December 1999, the number of Internet susbcribers was 12,000.
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ICT
Networking Development
Uganda has not yet
established a national information policy, however a number of institutions have been at
the centre of computer networking in the country.
- MUKLA, the
academic Network at the Institute of Computer Science at Makerere University, initially founded in 1990 as a FIDOnet-based network, has played an
instrumental part in developing the Internet in the country. MUKLA has been in existence
for well over five years, tracing its origins to an IDRC-funded research project to link
up the leading universities in the Eastern and Southern Africa region. MUKLA is also the
Uganda gateway to the East African network. UNESCO
RINAF project has supported the expansion of the MUKLA
e-mail network by establishing e-mail hosts in Jinga (at the Fisheries Research
Institute - FRI) and in Entebe (at the National Agricultural Research
Organisation - NARO and at the Uganda Virus Research Institute).
Makerere University is to lay a Fiber Optic campus LAN under an ADB loan scheduled for
1998.
- HealthNet Uganda,
which serves the medical and health community, runs by an NGO called
SatelLife Uganda, . It is located at the Makerere University Medical School and benefits
from developments at MUKLA.
- The Uganda National Council
on Science and Technology (UNSCT) has a mandate to support scientific and
academic research in the country. UNSCT is also the IDRC's Acacia programme national
strategy executive body and it locates the secretariat of the Steering Committee.
- Uganda Science and Technology Society (USTS) is a non-profit professional organisation, founded in September
1997 and based in Silver Spring, Maryland, USA. USTS strives to facilitate networking among Ugandans and information technology
development.
A number of
institutions offer short and long term training courses in the areas of information and
communication technologies. These institutions are Makerere University, Uganda Management
Institute, Uganda Posts and Telecommunication Training Institute, the National College of
Business Studies and the Management Training Advisory Centre.
As mentioned
above, five private Internet Service
Providers (ISPs) have been licensed by UPTC as part of
the government policy to encourage private sector participation in the development of ICTs
in the country.
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ICT Partners and Projects
Acacia strategy
programme - Uganda (Year one report on Acacia
activities)
Uganda is one of the four
countries selected by the International Development Research Center (IDRC) in mid
1997for support within its Acacia Initiative Programme. The
latter is an international effort led by the International Development Research Centre
(IDRC) to empower sub-Saharan African communities with the ability to apply information
and communication technologies for their own social and economic development. Initially,
Acacia will be rooted most deeply in four countries: Mozambique, Senegal, South Africa and
Uganda.
Four areas of focus have been
identified for initial investigation:
- policy,
- human resources,
- technology and infrastructure, and
- content development.
In December 1997, a workshop
which brought together government officials, universities, NGOs, the private sector, and
users and developers of ICTs, was held in Uganda to determine the vision for Acacia in
Uganda, to formulate the national strategy, and to establish the basis for partnership
formation. The national strategy has received full support from government
officials, and CIDA and UNESCO promised to be key-donor partners.
A Steering Committee was
established and the Uganda National Council on Science and Technology (UNCS)
has been selected to host the secretariat and to assume the functions of the Acacia
programme national strategy executive body. Consensus building workshops and short
feasibility studies were conducted by the Committee in five districts of the country to
identify three sites to house pilot telecentres.
Multipurpose Community
Telecentre Pilot Project
Project site: Nakaseke, Duration:
3 years. Starting date: 1 Oct. 97 (delayed to January 98).
International partners:
ITU, UNESCO/DANIDA, IDRC, British Council
National partners: Uganda
Telecom Ltd.(UTL), Uganda Public Library Board, and Uganda National Commission for
UNESCO
Status: Project
document signed (by all the above partners) in December 97/January 98.
National executing agency:
National UNESCO Commission in collaboration with other national partners. However the
telecom infrastructure required to link the Nakaseke MCT with Kampala will be executed by
Uganda Telecom Ltd (UTL, former UPTC). A separate agreement with ITU is being developed
which will stipulate how UNESCO will use the ITU contribution allocated for this purpose.
Achievements: National and
local steering committees have been established. A national co-ordinator has been
appointed. The Nakaseke sub-county council will initially own the MCT. After three
years, transfer of ownership to a private entrepreneur is envisaged.
The Uganda Telecom Ltd (UTL) is
providing the telecommunication link to Nakaseke, waiving the justification in terms of
economic potential and financial viability normally required. The cost of this link will
be partly covered by the ITU contribution allocated for this purpose. The link is expected
to be in operation by December 1998.
The local council will provide
the building for the MCT. The building is being refurbished and secured. The council
will also be responsible for providing local assistants and ensuring maintenance of the
building. A small branch library based in the Telecentre is already stocked with donated
books, and the IDRC, within the framework of its Acacia programme, will fund the
implementation of four additional MCTs in Uganda that will be linked to Nakaseke pilot
project.
The Nakaseke Multipurpose
Community Telecentre is expected to start operating by the end of 1998.
Further information
can be found at the ITU Rural Development and
Universal Access Page.
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