(Agence Ecofin) – Across Africa, telecommunications operators are increasingly concerned about the deployment of 5G. This technology should make it possible to meet the growing demand for broadband. However, obstacles stand in the way.
The Uganda Communications Authority (UCC) plans to roll out telecom frequency spectrum for fifth generation (5G) mobile technology by the end of the second quarter. This will allow telecom operators to be able to offer the Ugandan population ultra-broadband services to meet the growing demand for connectivity.
Some Ugandan telecom operators have already started testing 5G in the country and are just waiting for regulatory clearance from the UCC to roll it out. Airtel has announced that it has upgraded its network and is ready to support the technology. MTN, for its part, said last month that it had signed an agreement with Huawei in a bid to accelerate its move to 5G.
Once deployed, 5G is expected to accelerate Uganda’s digital transformation by making it easier to use new applications. These include smart homes and buildings, smart cities, 3D video, remote medical services, virtual reality and augmented reality, streaming, artificial intelligence…
However, the efforts of Ugandan telecom operators to deploy 5G as well as the adoption of this technology could be slowed down by several obstacles, including the low penetration of smartphones in the country. Indeed, the latest statistics from the UCC show that the country has only 10.9 million monthly smartphone users out of the 35 million devices connected to the national telecom network. This low adoption of smartphones is notably linked to the high cost of these devices and the high cost of connectivity.
Isaac K. Kassouwi
Read also:
24/01/2023 – Uganda: Airtel commissions 29 new 4G telecom towers to improve network coverage
24/11/2022 – Uganda Communications Commission seeks to cut cost of mobile phones and internet
21/01/2020 – With technical support from ZTE, MTN successfully tested 5G in Uganda