Uganda gets fourth national telecom operator

Uganda has got the fourth national telecommunications operator following the launching of Warid Telecoms on Wednesday night.

Other operators already operating in Uganda include MTN-Uganda, Celtel, Uganda Telecom and now Warid Telecom. According to industry observers the number is likely to rise when Hits Telecom that was licensed last year releases its services in 2008.

Present at the launch of the Warid Telecoms in Kampala were president Yoweri Museveni, the company’s chief executive officer, and minister of education in the United Arab Emirates, Sheik Nahayan Mubarak Al-Nahayan.

Al-Nahayan said that Warid plans to put in place a state of the art telecommunications operation comparable to any where in the world.

“This would enable us make services accessible to all Ugandans at fair prices” said Sheikh Nahayan Mubarak Al-Nahayan. He said that although commercial operations haven’t been launched yet, the company has set up 380 service sites in the beginning, covering at least 75% of the population and also covering all the major highways in the country.

He said the company would also launch an extensive portfolio of services including wireless broadband provided through Wimax technology.

“We are deploying the latest state of the art technology to serve Uganda’s priorities and needs and our plan is to put up an establishment that will be the future model of all investments in telecommunications and banking,” he said at a function that relayed live on the national television for over one hour.

“We take seriously the responsibility given to us to contribute towards national progress and we look forward to fulfilling this responsibility,” he said.

He also said that the company will employ 300 people directly, and thousands indirectly and announced plans to invest in hiring, training and promotion of local workers.

“Our sustained success in Uganda will only be possible through supporting skills of a nation?s workforce. We therefore look forward to establishing WARID as a world class operation,” he said.
President Yoweri Museveni who was the chief guest at the inauguration said that information and communication technologies are becoming an increasingly powerful tool for participating in global markets and enhancing local development.

“ICT can be used to fight poverty, promote education, gender balance, fight diseases and promote environment protection,” he said.

He also said that ICTs can contribute towards the realization of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

“They create digital opportunities to address MDG?s and investment in ICT could also generate wealth,” he said.

He pointed out that the government has established a national data backbone infrastructure of voice and data and will be available for national development.

“The backbone is to compliment the private sector rather than competing with them,” he said.

He said the investments in the telecommunications sector in the last year alone is about at $140 million (sh240bn).

The president said that the sector’s contribution to gross national product rose to 9%, with direct and indirect job creation in the year standing at 300,000 compared to 3 000 in 1998.

“With the opening up of the telecommunications sector to full competition, new technologies have been introduced resulting in wider variety and better quality of services. With the new players becoming operational, we expect much more competition and reduction in the cost of access to telecom facilities,” he said.

He however said that the sector is facing challenges that include high taxes on airtime.
“Cost of airtime are still high, but on the one hand we want investors and on the other we want services, but we shall address this issue of taxes appropriately,” he promised.

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