KAMPALA – A new mobile phone operator, Lycamobile – a United Kingdom-based telecommunications company, has started work in Uganda.
Speaking to Journalists at Serena Hotel in Kampala, Jeya Seelan, Lycamobile Director said Lycamobile would operate on the 072 code.
The company, he said, was already employing a number of Ugandans.
“We hope to create over 600 jobs both directly and indirectly but also expand the telecom market. We shall employ the local workforce in a bid to create employment as one of the ways to create an impact on Ugandan citizens,” he said.
This now brings stiff competition to a number of mobile telecom companies occupying the space but Seelan says the company aims to have a positive impact on the people of Uganda by providing customers with high-speed internet without compromising quality but also better call services.
“We want to have unrivaled 4G internet and we hope to roll out our services throughout the entire country in the next six months.”
The director also revealed that the telecom company will invest over $100 million in the next three years as part of their wider plan to expand the telecom market.
Speaking at the launch, Gavin De Costa, the head of the economic and trade policy for Uganda and Rwanda at the British High Commission in Kampala described the launch as an honor that would further strengthen the ties between UK and Uganda.
“We (UK) want to do more here in Uganda as we and are committed to building Uganda and supporting its prosperity,” De Costa said.
With about 11.2 million subscribers, MTN Uganda is the market leader, followed by Airtel Uganda, which has just 9.8 million, Africell Uganda (about three million) and struggling Uganda Telecom.
Seelan, who said the competition in Uganda appeared stiff, added that the company’s s topnotch services would win the market.
In an attempt to avoid constructing too many sites, we have learnt, Lycamobile would sign a contract with Tangerine which is already in most towns in Mukono, Kampala, and Wakiso, offering some of the most attractive internet rates to companies and individuals.
Leveraging Tangerine’s experience in Uganda, Lycamobile could strategize and win attention from the market.
Lycamobile, a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO), has been a player in the telecommunications sectors for more than ten years.
An MVNO is a wireless communications services provider that does not own the wireless network infrastructure over which it provides services to its customers.