Telecommunications

After the liberalisation of the communications industry, the sector has experienced explosive growth and is still set to undergo more exciting developments.

To date there are two licensed National Operators and one Private Network Operator.

Over 500 licenses have been issued in the areas of broadcasting, internet services, international data gateway, Very Small Aperture Terminals (VSAT), public pay phones, private data lines, paging, telex and fax bureaux, equipment vendors and courier services. The monopoly of the two National operators (Uganda Telecom and MTN) came to an end in May 2006, when the Uganda Communications Commission requested for interested parties to apply for National Operator licenses.

Currently it’s estimated that there are over one and a half million active mobile phone subscribers in the country. The number of mobile phone users has greatly surpassed that of fixed line users, a trend expected to continue.

 

The internet market in Uganda has also been liberalised.

There are approximately 7,000 Internet subscribers in the country with demand expected to increase, as evidenced by an explosion of cyber-cafés in Kampala and several major towns around the country. There are currently approximately twenty licensed Internet Service Providers (ISP).

To further strengthen the industry, radio and television sectors were both liberalised and currently have six terrestrial television stations, one satellite television provider and over 50 operational FM radio stations out of over 120 licensed to operate.

PwCs' leadership in audit, accountancy, tax, business advisory, privatisation, project finance, corporate recovery, corporate finance and legal services sets the quality of our advice apart from that of our competitors in Uganda.

We are the leading provider in Uganda of professional services to private and public sector companies in the communications sector.

 

Contact us

Cedric Mpobusingye

Cedric Mpobusingye

Partner, Kampala, PwC Uganda

Tel: +256 (0) 312 354 400

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