Karamoja to receive satellite internet in November

Godfrey Mutabazi, the Executive Director Uganda Communications Commission. Photo/File


TECHNOLOGY | COMMUNICATION

Government is set to embark on a project that will see the country get internet services by satellite.

The pilot project which is scheduled to commence in November this year, shall begin in Karamoja, Godfrey Mutabazi, the Executive Director Uganda Communications Commission revealed.

The move, according to Mutabazi, is expected to increase access to internet and improve the welfare of Ugandans as the country moves towards middle income status by 2020.

A World Bank report, titled: "Digital Dividends: Exploring the relationship between broadband and economic growth" reveals that a ten percentage point increase in broadband increases GDP per capita by $13,036 (about sh47m).

Mutabazi, who was speaking on the sidelines of the 11^th annual Capacity Africa event at Serena hotel on Wednesday said Government will work hand in hand with the International Telecommunications Satellite Organization (ITSO) and private firms for months on a pilot project in selected areas to enable the country get its broadband by satellite before it is rolled out to other parts of the country.

"The problem has been cost. So if the cost is good then the industry will adopt that (satellite internet) and that will be the end of the problem because unlike satellite, cable has a lot of damage, has too much work and has multiple duplications," Mutabazi said.

"We are looking at coverage and pricing. Sea cable came and they said it was going to reduce the price and it did but not as much as we have always wanted," he pointed out.

Mutabazi said he was optimistic that satellite will be cheaper in operation than fibre optic cable, adding that more local data centers are needed to bring down the cost of internet.

Capacity Africa is a forum for operators and consumers in the broadband industry to discuss industry trends.

Vincent Bagiire, the permanent secretary representing the minister for ICT, Frank Tumwebaze noted that more needs to be done to increase local content by creating content in the local dialects.

 

"Government is taking services online but we are concerned that not everybody can read and understand English hence the need to have as much content for those who are not literate," he said, noting that despite marked increase internet coverage, the exorbitant cost of internet ready gadgets has limited internet access.

"As a country, Uganda has prioritized ICT as a key enabler of socio-economic transformation and development programmes.  This is well articulated in the National Development Plan 2010/2015, the Vision 2040, and the NRM Manifesto," Bagiire said.

"We have also earmarked funds (about sh13b) to support youth innovators and to set up at least ICT parks. We have so far set up a national ICT Innovators Forum whose secretariat is at UCC," he told the gathering of business executives.

Ben Roberts, the Liquid Telecom Chief Technology and Innovation officer urged government to cut taxes of internet ready gadgets to drive up access and bring down internet prices.

He said: "The capacity that is being consumed by the whole country of Uganda is less than a few trading floors of the city of London. One of the factors of this is price to the consumer."

"Having more competition in the retail space has allowed the price to consumers to drop in the wholesale market. The wholesale price of bandwidth has absolutely plummeted. In 2013, we were talking of a price of about $400 (sh1.43m) per mega bit per second, now it is about $40 (sh143,600), this has an influence on the cost of internet bundles," he added.