Uganda Telecom unveils 3G mobile broadband

In an interview, Mark Kaheru, UT's public relations manager said: “We have introduced this technology to give our customers more access to communication and increase convenience to our customers. With it, customers can access internet, anytime and at any place as opposed to going to internet cafes and friends places.” Explaining how it works, Kaheru said, it's a matter of plugging the device into ones laptop or personal computer then wait for a few instructions which get you started.

The 3G broadband equipment costs UGX320,000 with a monthly subscription of UGX220,000, for a speed of 64kps. The price for the device is slightly higher than what UT's competitors like MTN Uganda and Celtel, who first ventured into similar technologies earlier last year. Both MTN and Celtel charge Shs300,000, for their devices with a provision of accessing the internet by recharging the device with "surf-time," using their ordinary airtime cards.

Kaheru explained that the reason behind the pricing is the quality of service; the new device is operating on a third generation (3G) network, as opposed to a second generation network which its competitors are operating. “A customer will also have a access to multimedia files and data including voice and data in a convenient way,” he said.

The introduction of UT's new 3G mobile technology closely follows the completion of expansion and extension of the telecommunication operator's network at a tune of $150 million, this year. The upgrading of it network also helped UT to launch the Black Berry Services for its subscribers.