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- telecom operators in the country advised to inform the regulator of the type of license categories they want to apply
- Under the new policy, there are five different license categories
Ugandan Government’s new licensing framework announced last October, will come into force on June 30. Following that, the telecom operators in the country have been advised to inform the regulator of the type of license categories they want to apply for under a new licensing regime before January 30.
According to Ibrahim Bbosa, the director of public and corporate affairs at UCC, the objective of the new policy is to improve the quality of telecommunication services and boost investment in the sector. The new framework he claimed was created after a review of the broadband policy and has been standardized and reclassified to cater to both existing and new operators.
Under the new policy, there are five different license categories—National Telecom Operator, National Public Service Provider, Regional Public Service Provider and Regional Public Infrastructure Provider.Telecoms who are interested to apply for a National Telecom Operator license will have to float at least 20 percent of the company’s shares on the Uganda Securities Exchange within two years of acquiring the new license.
Uganda has a reputation of having a highly controlled telecom policy. It has one of the harshest SIM card monitoring policies in the world, similar to Saudi Arabia and North Korea. It has adopted the use of fingerprint technology for SIM card registration purposes, which has been cited as a threat to privacy.
