Africa-Press – Uganda. The Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) has said that whereas the number of mobile phone Sim cards stands at 33 million, there are fewer Ugandans that own mobile phones.
Speaking at a panel discussion during the launch of the World Bank 2022 Uganda Poverty Assessment Report in Kampala, Ms Irene Kaggwa Sewankambo, the UCC executive director, said there are 33 million active Sim cards, but many of these are owned through multiple subscriptions with one person having more than one line.
“Ultimately the population with mobile phones is smaller,” she said, noting that growth in smart phones ownership remains low with many people using still using phones for making and receiving calls.
In his presentation, Dr Aziz Atamanov, the World Bank senior economist, said whereas there is a sharp increase in access to mobile telecommunication services in Uganda, it remains very unequal yet it is a key driver of digital transformation, on which transition of the economy is hinged.
“Mobile-cellular subscriptions and mobile-broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants in Uganda increased significantly during the last decade. As a result, the penetration rate in 2020 was 61 percent for mobile subscriptions and 44 percent for mobile broadband,” he said, noting that despite significant progress, access to mobile phones in 2019/2020 remained very unequal, with lower penetration rates among the poor, females, and those with lower levels of education.
Overall, he said, 59 percent of people aged 16 and above had access to mobile phones, of which 52 percent used their own while 7 percent used someone else’s mobile phone.
Dr Aziz said residents in northern Uganda were less likely to access mobile phones (40 percent) compared to other regions, while more males were more likely to access and own a mobile phone than women.
The ICT sector in Uganda is largely controlled by MTN and Airtel, which affects competition in terms of service delivery and pricing.
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