MTN Uganda Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) has written to Telecommunication companies and service providers, confirming the new terms and reminding them to submit their expression of interest within stipulated timelines to obtain new Licenses.
Current operators had been given sixty (60) days from the 29th of October 2019 within which to formally write to the Commission indicating which license(s) they wish to be considered for. However, the deadline was extended to 30th January 2020 to allow for adequate consultations.
The new licensing framework is to come into force by June 30, 2020. It was presented to all current and prospective operators at the Commission’s offices in Kampala. UCC executive director Godfrey Mutabazi explained the rationale of the framework to the top executives of telecoms, saying the last such review was conducted in 2016.
Mutabazi said the new framework, which has been arrived at after a comprehensive consultative process, will boost investment in the sector and ultimately improve the quality of telecommunications services.
The Commission’s Head of Legal Abudu Sallam Waiswa, who led the presentation, said the new framework aims to:
> a) Ease market entry and enhance competition
b) Intensify the rollout of broadband Internet
c) Enhance local ownership of telecom services
d) Promote effective utilization of available resources. Highlights of the new framework include a requirement for national telecom operators to float at least 20 per cent of the shares on the Uganda Securities Exchange within two years of acquiring the new license.
In his letter of December 10, 2019, the UCC Executive Director outlined the six license categories, and also highlighted newly introduced authorizations that cater for related telecommunications services. Below are the categories and authorizations alongside their terms and conditions:
(1) National Telecom Operator (NTO) license This license shall be granted to an operator that demonstrates financial and technical capacity to establish and operate a telecommunications network spanning across the entire geographical boundary of Uganda. The NTO license will allow the license holder to establish and provide both telecommunications infrastructure and services across the whole country. The NTO license shall be for a period of 20 (twenty) years, renewable in accordance with the Uganda Communications Act 2013.The following are some of the salient features of this license:(a) The licensee shall be eligible for national spectrum allocation based on technical expansion/ development plan, legal and regulatory framework, public interest and availability of the respective resources.(b) The licensee shall be obliged to […]