MTN Uganda joins Airtel Kenya as the two East African telecom companies with data bundles that don’t expire
Uganda’s leading telecommunication giants MTN has announced a new package of internet bundles joining Airtel Kenya on the list of those with data bundles that don’t expire.
Of recent, customers have been buying MBS and utilizing them in the exact specified time frame and beyond which they expire.
However, sources indicate that the decision was taken a few weeks after one Ugandan citizen sued telecom companies over the issue of having their data get expired because of time frame yet they have not used it themselves.
Dennis Namara, a representative from the East African Legislative Assembly Uganda in November this year, petitioned High court in Kampala over mobile data bundle expiry based on time frame even when a particular user has not made use of the MBS.
According to a September report from Cable.co.uk, a UK a Broadband, TV and Mobile Phone Price Comparison Site, Uganda was ranked as one the countries in East Africa where individuals pay a lot of money to access Internet services.
Rated at USD4.69 (Shs17, 231) for 1GB of data, Ugandan internet prices are the second-highest in East Africa behind Tanzania, where 1GB costs USD5.93 (Shs22, 000).
Under the new resolutions, MTN now offers data bundles at 6MB for UGX 100, 80MB for UGX 1000 and 1GB for UGX 10,000.
Customers will now utilize all their data at their own will with no panic and worries about the expiration date.
The new MTN Uganda data bundles expiration will depend on what each user does and how he uses his internet package.
MTN Uganda is the largest telecom company in the country with up to 11.2 million subscribers accounting for about 55 per cent market share according to a statistics report of 30 June 2017.
Being a subsidiary of a multinational telecommunications group, MTN connects approximately 232 million people in 22 countries across Africa and the Middle East.
In 2009, MTN Uganda introduced its mobile telephone-based banking product known as Mobile Money and by 2015, they had already controlled 80 per cent of the mobile money market in the country.
Since then, MTN has deeply established its brand in the country with innovations, for example, they recently introduced MoKash.
MoKash is an innovation that allows customers to save money and access microloan products, using their cell phone.
In August last year, they also launched a joint Tidal–MTN music streaming service. The Tidal platform, co-owned by American mogul Jay-Z, offers streaming audio and video for a daily fee of USh600 (US$0.16).
Subscribers receive music, videos and exclusive content. Music from the majority of Uganda’s leading artistes is available. At that time, the service was available only in Uganda and South Africa, on the African continent.
By John Dalton Kigozi
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