UTL will be able to provide GSM solutions to 70 per cent of the country this month

CHOGM brought to you by Uganda Tel
UTL is the sole service provider for the CHOGM media centre in Kampala this week - enabling live broadcasts of the meeting to be seen back home

Providing critical communication links to the outside world this week for the journalists covering the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Uganda’s capital, Kampala, will be the country’s largest fixed line operator, Uganda Telecom Limited (UTL).

Privatised in 2000, the telecom was chosen among Uganda’s current five telecoms as the sole service provider for the Summit’s media centre, which will be located at a prominent hotel in the city.

UTL was majority acquired by Libya African Portfolio Greencom (LAP) in April of this year, the third foreign operator to move into the sector in 2007, testament to its current dynamism. Under its new shareholding structure, LAP owns 69 per cent equity in UTL, while the government of Uganda retains 31 per cent.

“The market in Uganda holds a lot of potential for growth. More and more Ugandans are demanding more solutions and the communication companies are trying to cater for these demands. UTL as one of these companies prides itself in being a leading innovator and solutions provider. We are constantly developing solutions and providing communication access to more and more Ugandans,” observes Abdulbaset Elazzabi (INTERVIEW), the company’s new managing director.

With its entry into the market, LAP brought with it a breath of fresh air and new enthusiasm for the telecom, not to mention the cash (specifically $50 million) to fund ambitious network expansion plans this year.

Appointed shortly after the spring takeover, over the last few months the company’s managing director has overseen the rollout of UTL’s GSM network in partnership with Huawei Technologies, which has installed 200 base transmission stations for the telecom – the first phase of a two phased expansion that will soon see UTL cover nearly three quarters of the national territory in a bid to boost its current 20 per cent share of the country’s mobile market.

Abdulbaset Elazzabi Managing Director of Uganda Telecom INTERVIEW

“We have invested a lot of money, expertise and energy into UTL, and our first step will be to improve the coverage of GSM. We aim to deliver GSM solutions to over 70 per cent of the population by November and are targeting over 2 million subscribers by end of 2008,” remarks Mr Elazzabi, adding that once the expansion project is finalised this month, UTL’s network will be the largest in the country, meaning that more and more Ugandans will be able to enjoy the solutions offered by the company’s network.

“As it stands right now, UTL has got the most solutions and these are tailored to meet the varying needs of different individuals,” he states.

The improvements in Uganda’s telecommunications infrastructure over the last few months in preparation for CHOGM have been significant, according to Mr Elazzabi, who says that the government has encouraged the telecom sector to deliver the latest solutions. Bandwidth in the country has been increased and many of the major hotels and destinations have upgraded their communication facilities.

For its part, UTL has increased bandwidth to over 100 megabytes and has provided a 2MBPS wireless network to the CHOGM command centre.

“We have also signed a new 3G network and have provided BlackBerry solutions to the market,” says Mr Elazzabi. “We have over 270 roaming partners that include most of the Commonwealth countries, so delegates do not have to buy new connections but can carry out business as usual. We are introducing data roaming as well. Basically, CHOGM will require a wealth of solutions for communication needs, and UTL is confident we can meet all these needs.”