Parliament on Wednesday received a report from the Committee on ICT and National Guidance on unsatisfactory and unfair services delivered by telecommunication and television service providers in Uganda.
The report presented by the Committee Chairperson Hon. Moses Magogo,was premised on a petition to Parliament by Kawempe Division South constituents in November 2021.
The constituents claimed unsatisfactory and unfair services delivery by telecommunication and television service providers in the country.
Mps unanimously agreed that telecom companies are offering unfriendly data services, despite access to the internet being a top priority in these times.
Hon. Ibrahim Ssemujju (Kira Municipality) asked the government to consider access to the internet as a right and not a luxury. He says just as the government has prioritized ICT, the internet should be accessible and affordable.
“Agro-processing, ICT and tourism have been identified by the government as key priorities, but the ICT sector has been abandoned to private players, that is how we are able to nearly sell all equipment that UTL had to private players,” Ssemujju said.
Napak district Woman MP, Hon. Faith Nakut, internet accessibility, especially in rural schools has hindered the implementation of the new curriculum in secondary schools.
“Secondary schools are implementing a curriculum that requires students to do research, but access to internet data is still limited. How are we managing these children? The Ministry of ICT should negotiate for lower internet rates for our children in schools, especially those in rural schools,” Nakut said.
The MPs said consumers of communication services get quality, reliable and affordable communication services to widen Information Communication Technology (ICT) penetration as a key driver of economic growth.
In response, the Deputy Speaker of Parliament Hon. Thomas Tayebwa tasked Uganda Communication Commission (UCC), to engage telecom companies into providing unlimited data and voice call bundles to Ugandans.
The Deputy Speaker stated that telecom companies should not be expiring bundles, but instead reactivating them. Hon Tayebwa says Uganda should borrow a leaf from other countries that provide exclusively unlimited data and voice call bundles to their citizens.
“This issue of expiry of data and voice bundles needs to be addressed. How do you tell me that bundles have expired? Technology has no expiry date. In many countries, one is only required to reactivate the bundle; it’s like money on your account where the bank tells you that your account has become dormant, it is then reactivated and you can access your money,” Tayebwa said.
Recently, telecom operators have come up with a range of pricing packages which give consumers an opportunity to choose from time-bound bundles or unlimited bundles that do not expire like the MTN Freedom Bundles, Airtel’s Chillax Bundles and Smile Telecom’s Forever Bundles.
