Africa-Press – Uganda. The total number of mobile phone subscriptions in the country has now reached 34.3 million, a latest report by the Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) shows.
According to the UCC market performance report for quarter of three of the Financial Year 2022/23, the 34.3 million is a 3 percent increase from the previous quarter of the FY2022/23.
According to the previous quarter, which covered months of October to December 2022, the total number of mobile subscribers was 33.1 million.
Mr Fred Otunnu Okot, the director of corporate affairs at UCC, said the development emphasises the key role of the telecom sector in Uganda’s development.
“As the regulator, we are pleased with the positive performance trajectory registered in the sector. We are optimistic that the sector will continue to play the enabling role in socio-economic development of the country; more jobs, enhanced service delivery enabled by ICTs and increased tax contribution by the sector to the economy,” he said.
He added: “Our collaborative regulatory approach could have contributed to creating the conducive environment under which the service players operated hence the growth in quality of service and usage of ICT.”
Mr Otunnu also explained that UCC uses consolidated numbers to prepare the market performance report and they don’t break down numbers each telecommunication is having in terms of subscribers.
He said UCC has a healthy relationship with the communication companies because they are using the collaborative regulatory best practice.
The UCC market performance report indicates that during quarter three, the industry added a total of 1.08 million new mobile subscriptions.
The UCC financial year starts every July, meaning its first quarter runs from July to September, the second quarter runs from October to December and the third runs from January to March.
Fixed lines maintained a count of 0.116 million subscriptions, according to the report. UCC said the growth in subscriptions can be attributed to the resumption of business activities after the festive season in December 2022.
UCC said in the quarter that ended in March, there was a remarkable 12 percent increase in fixed and mobile subscriptions.
“This consistent growth in subscriptions during the post-Christmas festivities between the quarters has resulted in a net addition of more than 2 million new fixed and mobile telephone subscriptions in the last two years since 2021,” said UCC
In the report, UCC said Internet subscriptions experienced significant growth, adding 1.2 million new internet subscriptions and reaching a total of 27 million.
“The rise in subscriptions can be attributed primarily to increased internet access through mobile handsets and other data devices like tablets,” said UCC.
Relatedly, the success can be attributed to the Telecom industry’s aggressive campaigns promoting Fibre-to-the-Home (FTTH) packages and Internet of Things (IoT) devices such as car tracking devices.
In the quarter three of FY2022/23, Uganda Bureau of Statistics released population projections for the year 2023, putting it at 45.5 million Ugandans, up from the 2022 estimate of 43.2 million in quarter two.
Consequently, UCC said the baseline for computing telecom penetration has equally shifted, resulting in a new telephone subscriptions penetration rate of 75 active lines per 100 Ugandans, down from 77 in the quarter ending December 2022.
In the report UCC said Internet subscriptions experienced significant growth, adding 1.2 million new subscriptions and reaching a total of 27 million.
Comparing year-on-year data, there was an increase of 3.4 million active Internet connections in the 12 months leading up to March. This represents a 14 percent rise since March 2022.
For More News And Analysis About Uganda Follow Africa-Press
