Telecommunication performance poorest in Northern Uganda

In his presentation during the launch of the World Bank 2022 Uganda Poverty Assessment Report in Kampala, Atamanov said whereas there is a sharp increase in access to mobile telecommunication services in Uganda, it remains very unequal yet it is a key driver of digital transformation on which the transition of the economy is hinged.

Regional, gender, and age performances

“Mobile-cellular subscriptions and mobile-broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants in Uganda increased significantly during the last decade. As a result, the penetration rate in 2020 was 61 per cent for mobile subscriptions and 44 per cent for mobile broadband,” he said.

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However, he noted that despite significant progress, access to mobile phones in 2019/2020 remained very unequal, with lower penetration rates among the poor, females, and those with lower levels of education.

He said, 59 per cent of people aged 16 and above had access to mobile phones, of which 52 per cent used their own while 7 per cent used someone else’s mobile phone.

He added that residents in northern Uganda were less likely to access mobile phones (40 per cent) compared to other regions, while more males were more likely to access and own a mobile phone than women.

Sim cards and mobile phone inequality

Meanwhile, the Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) says there are 33 million active sim cards but few Ugandans own mobile phones. This situation, according to UCC, arises from multiple subscriptions where one person has more than one sim card.

Speaking at the launch, Irene Kaggwa Sewankambo, the UCC executive director said, “Ultimately the population with mobile phones is smaller."

The ICT sector in Uganda is largely controlled by MTN and Airtel, which affects competition in terms of service delivery and pricing.