In Uganda, government partners with Tower of Africa to build 63 telecom sites in underserved areas
February 7th 2024
The Uganda Communications Universal Access and Service Fund (UCUSAF) has partnered with infrastructure operator Tower of Africa Uganda to build 63 telecoms sites in underserved areas of the country. The grant provided by the Fund for the implementation of the project amounts to 12 billion Ugandan shillings ($3.13 million). A first site was launched on Tuesday February 6, by Chris Baryomunsi (photo, right), Ugandan Minister of ICT.
The project is part of the UCUSAF Access Infrastructure Program which aims to deploy 200 telecom sites in 117 sub-counties with 3G geographic coverage below 30%, over the next five years.
This government initiative is necessary to connect these areas of the country which are neglected by telecom operators since they are not profitable. “ Our approved providers naturally tend to prioritize economically viable areas, which leaves many rural and hard-to-reach areas unserved ,” says Nyombi Thembo, executive director of the Uganda Communications Commission (UCC).
This initiative should help extend the reach of the Ugandan telecoms network to thousands of people who are not previously connected. According to UCC statistics, Uganda had 4,907 telecom towers at the end of 2023 with a coverage rate of 98% for 2G; 97% for 3G and 61% for 4G.
Data platform DataReportal indicates that Uganda had 30.5 million mobile subscribers at the start of 2023 for a penetration rate of 63.8%. The number of Internet users in the country stood at 11.7 million for an Internet penetration rate of 24.6%.
Source: Agency EcoFin
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