KAMPALA–Airtel has announced a reduction in the cost of Internet bandwidth for government institutions, the National Information Technology Authority Uganda (NITA) announced Monday.
However, shortly after the announcement, the Minister of Information Technology and Communications, Frank Tumwebaze, responded by demanding the same from other telecommunications networks.
“We demand the same from all licensed telecom operators& ISPs for the private users,” minister Tumwebaze tweeted.
Airtel has also launched a new promo that it says is intended to extend affordable and reliable internet accessibility to individuals and businesses in Uganda.
The promo, running under the the name ‘Data Blasta’, will run for two months and is part of an overall effort that has seen Airtel Uganda launch 4G LTE services, revise existing data bundles and establish new network sites across the country.
As part of the promotion, Airtel Uganda has doubled the Shs2,000 daily bundle from 150MB to 300MB while the Shs5,000 bundle has been increased from 450MB to 1GB, valid for three days.
This promotion positions Airtel Uganda as the cheapest data provider with other networks offering less data for a similar price.
“Reliable and affordable telecommunications services are no longer a luxury in an emerging economy like Uganda. Through this promotion, we want to ensure that all Ugandans have full access to affordable internet services,” V.G. Somasekhar, the Airtel Uganda Managing Director, said.
This new promotion comes a few weeks after Airtel Uganda revised data bundles, especially the weekly and monthly subscriptions, in a bid to increase the value offered to customers.
As part of the data bundles revision, daily bundles were cut to as low as Shs250, weekly bundles of 100 MB to Shs2,000 and monthly bundles to as low as Shs1,500.
Somasekhar added that Airtel Uganda data bundles will remain affordable even after this two-month promotion.
“Affordability is key at Airtel Uganda; I, therefore, want to assure our subscribers that our data bundles will remain affordable even after this two-month promotion,” he added.
To access the new data bundles, simply dial *175*2#.
