The government of Uganda is expanding its free Wi-Fi hotspot programme to cover 2,000 sites, up from 600 currently. 300 of the existing hotspots are in the capital Kampala and the remainder are in regional centres. Authorities want the scheme to be extended to every location where the government’s national backbone infrastructure exists, allowing it to cover more rural areas. Uganda’s USD75 million Regional Communications Infrastructure Programme (RCIP) has been funded by the World Bank.
A report from The Monitor cites Hatwib Mugasa, executive director of the National Information Technology Authority (NITA-U), as saying: ‘We would like to provide free internet to selected areas at selected times. The internet that we are providing will be utilised by government during working hours, and by citizens after working hours, and weekends.’