Unstable phone network disrupts business
MOBILE phone users on some local networks experienced a “frustrating†interruption in the flow of calls and mobile money transactions over the weekend.
By DAVID MUGABE
MOBILE phone users on some local networks experienced a “frustrating†interruption in the flow of calls and mobile money transactions over the weekend.
Donald Nyakairu, the new utl chief, said the problem was caused by a major equipment failure on Saturday morning, but has since been rectified.
“The disruption was caused by the link between two switches at Telephone house and Mengo resulting from a faulty card, but that was rectified in the afternoon,†said Nyakairu.
Most of the subscribers from MTN trying to call utl could not go through as the computer-generated voice prompter would announce that the number does not exist on the network or is switched off.
MTN chief executive officer Themba Khumalo said his firm was informed of the breakdown and the two firms got their engineers to work together.
Some subscribers also said they were unable to complete calls from Airtel to MTN by Sunday afternoon as well, meaning that the technical interruption was beyond just one operator.
Airtel Uganda spokesperson Joseph Kanyamunyu also said his firm was informed of the interruptions on Sunday.
“Our technical manager has checked the network and it is fine,†said Kanyamunyu.
Recently, MTN and utl were embroiled in a court battle in a case in which the two giant operators were contesting the amount to be paid for the interconnect fee.
The interconnect fee is the money paid by one operator for routing calls through the other network.
The Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) a few months ago spelt out tough industry measures that would be applied should telecom operators fail to follow the stipulated network quality standards.
The proposal includes a financial penalty.
It was not immediately clear whether UCC would penalise any operators.
MOBILE phone users on some local networks experienced a “frustrating†interruption in the flow of calls and mobile money transactions over the weekend.
Donald Nyakairu, the new utl chief, said the problem was caused by a major equipment failure on Saturday morning, but has since been rectified.
“The disruption was caused by the link between two switches at Telephone house and Mengo resulting from a faulty card, but that was rectified in the afternoon,†said Nyakairu.
Most of the subscribers from MTN trying to call utl could not go through as the computer-generated voice prompter would announce that the number does not exist on the network or is switched off.
MTN chief executive officer Themba Khumalo said his firm was informed of the breakdown and the two firms got their engineers to work together.
Some subscribers also said they were unable to complete calls from Airtel to MTN by Sunday afternoon as well, meaning that the technical interruption was beyond just one operator.
Airtel Uganda spokesperson Joseph Kanyamunyu also said his firm was informed of the interruptions on Sunday.
“Our technical manager has checked the network and it is fine,†said Kanyamunyu.
Recently, MTN and utl were embroiled in a court battle in a case in which the two giant operators were contesting the amount to be paid for the interconnect fee.
The interconnect fee is the money paid by one operator for routing calls through the other network.
The Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) a few months ago spelt out tough industry measures that would be applied should telecom operators fail to follow the stipulated network quality standards.
The proposal includes a financial penalty.
It was not immediately clear whether UCC would penalise any operators.