According to the Uganda Communications Commission, just 13 million of the 41 million Ugandans are known internet users translating to 31% of Ugandans. According to MTN Uganda Chief Marketing Officer Olivier Prentout, these numbers did not meet targets defined by Telecom companies. “To be able to reach the biggest number and I think on the internet side of deal we are not yet where we should be even if we were the first one to launch 3G network and 4G. You know we still have a long way to go and I think this is obviously where the world is going and Uganda is no exception. So we need to make sure that we bridge the gap for digital inclusion.” Said, Olivier Prentout – Chief Marketing Officer, MTN Uganda.
While this was always blamed on infrastructure, Prentout blamed the low numbers on the cost of living. “It’s a combination of things right. First of all, I mean to be on the internet you need to be under the coverage. Right we are improving every day we are launching new 3G sites and 4G sites. But also not everywhere internet is available and that’s the thing as MTN we need to improve and make sure that we cover many more places. The second thing is the device right. Not everyone can afford a device, you know with smartphones the ones that sale in the market you know the minimum it’s 200,000.”
To be able to reach more mobile phone users and internet subscribers, MTN Uganda intended to strengthen its ties with NBS Television that Telecom Chief Marketing Officer Olivier Prentout made a courtesy visit to NBS TV. “The visit was a courtesy visit because the MTN CMO is new in the market, he decided to come and the see the partner NBS and how we are doing. So it’s been a very good visit, we’ve been able to share a lot of ideas on how we want to strengthen our partnership.” Said, Joseph Kigozi – Chief Strategy Officer, NEXT Media.
Meanwhile, to bridge internet gaps like the cost of smartphones, MTN Uganda also launched a mobile phone dubbed FERO which came as a Christmas Package to Ugandans at a cost of 119,000 shillings only. MTN Uganda was licensed in April 1998 as the country’s second player in the Telecom business, it makes 20 years next year.
