KAMPALA, May 2 (Xinhua) -- The Ugandan government has approved a string of measures aimed at reviving Uganda Telecom Limited (UTL), a state-owned telecommunication company.
Frank Tumwebaze, minister of information told reporters on Wednesday that the Cabinet has approved a recommendation by the finance ministry to find a competent investor to invest in UTL.
Cabinet also said that when UTL gets an investor to upgrade its network, its service license should be extended by 20 years.
Tumwebaze said UTL has also been given unlimited access and use of the National Backbone Infrastructure to enable it provide cheaper internet services compared to the market rate.
Access to this stat- owned infrastructure will enhance government shareholding to a range of 32 percent to 45 percent, according to Tumwebaze.
Cabinet also instructed all ministries, departments and agencies to use UTL as their internet service provider.
It also instructed the Uganda Communications Commission (UCC), the state-owned communications regulator to allow UTL to expand its frequency bandwidth so long as it can prove that it will use it efficiently to cover the whole country and provide better service.
Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni early this year issued a directive to all government agencies to write off debts with UTL.
He said the debts amounting to over 200 billion shillings (about 55.6 million U.S. dollars) would be converted into shares in the debt-ridden telecommunication company.
All these measures are aimed at making the telecommunication company competitive.
Uganda has four major telecommunication companies and these include MTN, Airtel, Africel and UTL. It is only UTL that is state owned.
According to UCC, as of September 2017, there were close to 25 million mobile and fixed telephony subscription in Uganda.
