Government is going to start declining the issuance of licenses to telecom companies that have no capacity to serve the whole country with good connectivity.
The revelation was made by the Minister of ICT and National Guidance, Frank Tumwebaze while appearing before the Parliamentary Committee of Finance on Wednesday where he had been summoned to answer queries on the recent ban on airtime scratchcards.
The development followed complaints raised by a section of MPs over the poor network coverage across the country, questioning how Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) intends to enforce the electronic recharge of airtime yet some telecoms are yet to stabilize their network coverage across the country.
Tumwebaze informed the Committee that Ministry had already drafted a policy that would guide on the upgrade of broadband networks for both rural and urban areas, adding that telecom companies not in the position to serve the entire country will be denied operating licenses.
Said Tumwebaze: “Each operator will show us how they will operate … It will be easy for the operator to demand clear milestones and one of the things we are demanding is that we can’t give you an operator license as a telecom company if you aren’t able to cover the whole country because if you aren’t able to cover the whole country, you create monopolies that are able to cover the whole country because it will be one or two everywhere.”
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Electronic airtime
Meanwhile, the legislators continued to question the preparedness by the government and telecom companies to facilitate the efficient roll-out of electronic airtime. According to the lawmakers, the two parties have failed to adequately sensitize the public on the digitization of airtime.
They, thus, called on the government to ensure a nationwide sensitization campaign is conducted. UCC has previously said that they went around the country to do a survey before resolving to phase out airtime scratchcards.
One of the key reasons the government has given for phasing out airtime scratchcards is that it was enabling crime. But Alex Ruhunda, a member of parliament for Fort Portal Municipality wondered why security agencies like the police were not able to track such criminals with the infrastructure they have.
Minister Tumwebaze has told this reporter that he will be “taking all telcos and UCC to Parliament for a dialogue with MPs.”
He added, “All issues will be discussed and a way forward. But I discourage fellow Ugandans from inculcating a culture that believes any new initiative is impossible. No, we can advance and go digital.”
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