ICT still a dream in rural areas
Jan 07, 2007
Lovine Ntege, a resident of Buwama village in Mpigi district, used to transact business on her mobile phone. She would crush shells and sell them to firms that make poultry feeds.
By David Muwanga
Lovine Ntege, a resident of Buwama village in Mpigi district, used to transact business on her mobile phone. She would crush shells and sell them to firms that make poultry feeds.
However, due to the high cost of airtime, she stopped transacting business on phone. Ntege says communicating with her customers via the Internet is a dream because she does not know how to use it. Worse still, the nearest Internet centre is in Mpigi town, seven kilometres from her village.
“My people are disappointed because the price of everything is going up, they cannot access information communication technology (ICT) because it is not accessible in rural areas,†she laments.
According to a research by the Global System for Mobile Communication Association, Uganda is second to Turkey in having the highest costs of telecommunication services. “Uganda is second, followed by Brazil, Syria, Zambia, Tanzania, Argentina, Ecuador, Kenya and Ukraine,†says Dr. Johnson Nkuuhe, the UNDP coordinator for the Millennium Development Goal. According to the report: “Uganda raised mobile phone airtime duty from 10% to 12% and value added tax from 17% to 18%, while in June last year, the Government introduced a five percent duty on landlines.
“The Government needs to review the telecom policy with an objective of reducing the costs to enable people in rural areas to use ICT for income generation. But if the taxes are high, the digital divide between rural and urban areas would widen.†Despite the need to review the policy, which aims at reducing costs, growth in investment in the telecom sector has boosted employment.
Currently, the telecom industry employs about 290,000 people.
The ICT minister, Dr. Ham Mulira, says the number of fixed and mobile customers by March last year was 107,992 and 1,937,109, respectively. “The total private investment in the sector since January 2004 to-date, is estimated to be $180m compared to $15m generated between 1999 and 2000 and a total sector turnover of $810m has been registered since 2004 to date,†he adds.
Mulira said there is network coverage of telecommunication services in 745 of the 926 sub-counties in the country, amounting to 80% of geographical coverage.
According to the researchers, there are three mobile cellular operators, 145 private radio stations of which 122 are operational, 22 courier service-providers and 10,925 pay phones. Over 10,000 public pay phones are operational.
The research also revealed that there are 25 private television stations of which 14 are operational. Several projects that have been implemented include Internet centres in 52 districts, 54 training centres, 50 Internet cafes, establishment of information portals for all districts and a national portal, www.ugandaweb.net.
However, despite the developments, MTN’s marketing manager Eric van Veen says: “Government needs to revise the telecom policy because presently, costs have risen by 40% as generators run longer hours and add to the costs of maintenance.â€
The policy has also been criticised in a research project on ICT infrastructure in 14 African countries on the theme “Towards an African e-Indexâ€. The research reveals that Uganda’s policy implementation has been dogged by tension and conflicts among the concerned parties, leading to a document that has had no significant impact and will be out of date before it is implemented.
“When implemented, the policy would lead to full liberalisation of the sector and greater public investment in infrastructure development through public private partnerships,†the research revealed.
Lovine Ntege, a resident of Buwama village in Mpigi district, used to transact business on her mobile phone. She would crush shells and sell them to firms that make poultry feeds.
However, due to the high cost of airtime, she stopped transacting business on phone. Ntege says communicating with her customers via the Internet is a dream because she does not know how to use it. Worse still, the nearest Internet centre is in Mpigi town, seven kilometres from her village.
“My people are disappointed because the price of everything is going up, they cannot access information communication technology (ICT) because it is not accessible in rural areas,†she laments.
According to a research by the Global System for Mobile Communication Association, Uganda is second to Turkey in having the highest costs of telecommunication services. “Uganda is second, followed by Brazil, Syria, Zambia, Tanzania, Argentina, Ecuador, Kenya and Ukraine,†says Dr. Johnson Nkuuhe, the UNDP coordinator for the Millennium Development Goal. According to the report: “Uganda raised mobile phone airtime duty from 10% to 12% and value added tax from 17% to 18%, while in June last year, the Government introduced a five percent duty on landlines.
“The Government needs to review the telecom policy with an objective of reducing the costs to enable people in rural areas to use ICT for income generation. But if the taxes are high, the digital divide between rural and urban areas would widen.†Despite the need to review the policy, which aims at reducing costs, growth in investment in the telecom sector has boosted employment.
Currently, the telecom industry employs about 290,000 people.
The ICT minister, Dr. Ham Mulira, says the number of fixed and mobile customers by March last year was 107,992 and 1,937,109, respectively. “The total private investment in the sector since January 2004 to-date, is estimated to be $180m compared to $15m generated between 1999 and 2000 and a total sector turnover of $810m has been registered since 2004 to date,†he adds.
Mulira said there is network coverage of telecommunication services in 745 of the 926 sub-counties in the country, amounting to 80% of geographical coverage.
According to the researchers, there are three mobile cellular operators, 145 private radio stations of which 122 are operational, 22 courier service-providers and 10,925 pay phones. Over 10,000 public pay phones are operational.
The research also revealed that there are 25 private television stations of which 14 are operational. Several projects that have been implemented include Internet centres in 52 districts, 54 training centres, 50 Internet cafes, establishment of information portals for all districts and a national portal, www.ugandaweb.net.
However, despite the developments, MTN’s marketing manager Eric van Veen says: “Government needs to revise the telecom policy because presently, costs have risen by 40% as generators run longer hours and add to the costs of maintenance.â€
The policy has also been criticised in a research project on ICT infrastructure in 14 African countries on the theme “Towards an African e-Indexâ€. The research reveals that Uganda’s policy implementation has been dogged by tension and conflicts among the concerned parties, leading to a document that has had no significant impact and will be out of date before it is implemented.
“When implemented, the policy would lead to full liberalisation of the sector and greater public investment in infrastructure development through public private partnerships,†the research revealed.