Mobile phone operator MTN Uganda has spent $150 million this year on expansion and expects to add a million new subscribers on the back of wider network coverage, its CEO said on Monday.
CEO Noel Meier told Reuters MTN planned to invest a similar amount next year into its services. The firm is part of SA's MTN Group.
Meier expects a total subscriber base of 3.5 million by the end of 2008. He said coverage expansion to rural areas and the introduction of discounted calling were behind the increase.
"Historically, operators have tended to be Kampala-centric; we're now in the process of establishing remote switches in the east, the west, the north and so on," Meier said. "We're focusing on increasing capacity."
The Uganda Communications Commission said in July it expects telephone users to reach six million by the end of the year as a result of the sector's liberalisation.
More than 65% of the country has fixed and mobile phone coverage. Tele-density has risen from 0.26% in 1997 to 18.7% of the 30 million population.
MTN and the Uganda Telecommunications (UTL) were until the end of 2005 the only companies allowed to provide fixed and mobile phone services.
Now there are five licence holders in the sector which has attracted more than $350 million of investment since 2001 and generated revenue worth $1.22 trillion since, according to the regulator's figures.
Share