ICT Sector Growth Averages 38% Over the Last 4 Years

Over 3.5 million users connected to mobile phone networks
Telecommunication Coverage in Uganda
BackgroundUganda’s Informationand Communications Technology (ICT) sector is dynamic and vibrant. The sector has registered double digit growth since 2000 and grew by 33% in 2006/2007. Investment inflows
have been very strong and in 2006, the sector attracted in excess of US $73 million. Direct employment stands at 6000 while over 350,000 people are indirectly employed. Sector dynamism is a result of Uganda’s
good ICT legal and regulatory framework, a stable micro economic environment and economic reforms
pursued since the early 1990s. The telecommunications sub-sector, formerly dominated by a single national
operator, has been progressively liberalised over the last 10 years. Infrastructure capacity is rapidly improving. Most national and regional transmission links are digital. Optical fiber links connect major economic centres, with expansion in progress. There is extensive use of
microwave in the backbone infrastructure and Vsat Services. International gateways are satellite based but
                                                           
connection to the world optic fiber network is eminent.
This dynamism is a result of a good legal and regulatory framework, a stable micro economic environment
and economic reforms pursued since the early 1990s. Although still small, export of ICT services has
started generating foreign exchange inflows. With Number of telephony Customers and Teledensityvirtually no earnings in 2001, the sector now earns over US $ 10 million per annum.
Improving tele-density
Tele-density as given by percentage of population owning a fixed and or a mobile phone increased from 8% in June 2005 to 13.3% in July 2006. Over the last year (July 2006 to June 2007), Uganda’ subscriber base grew by mores than 1.5 million new contracts, reaching a total of over
3.5 million, representing a 68% annual growth rate.
than 40 percent of the population access telephony using
public pay phones. Additional 10,393 public payphones were installed during the 2006/2007 financial year;
this number represents the phones installed by the three operators and excludes phone kiosks set up by
private businesses.
Expanding the national infrastructure backbone Uganda has launched a US $ 30 million National Data
Transmission Backbone Infrastructure (NBI) and Electronic Government Infrastructure (EGI) project.
The NBI is intended to ensure that affordable high bandwidth data connection is available in all major
towns of the country by 2010. The EGI is designed overhaul government communication infrastructure and
to reduce the cost of doing business in government
Telecommunication Industry Operators – 2007
National Telecom Operator (NTO)-2
Cellular Telecom Operator (CTO)-1
Public Infrastructure Providers (PIP)-4
Public Service Providers (PSP)
- Capacity Resale only-4
PSP- Voice and Data only-10
PSP- Voice and Data plus Capacity resale -2

Investment Opportunities
A wide range of opportunities are available due to Uganda’ geographical location which favours businesss
process outsourcing and low licensing and entry cost. Other positive factors include a strong market
potential across most service areas, a skilled labour force with specialized ICT training, a population that fluently speaks English, low factor costs including land, good quality support infrastructure and a young population suitable for ICT.
Postal Courier Services
68 % of the Ugandan population lives in rural areas and post courier services are still an essential mode of information and services delivery. The postal business has expanded and attracted new investments. The national target is to have a postal access inany areas with more than 250 inhabitants.
 Private Courier services.The need by customers for faster, more secure and efficient mean of goods distribution and delivery has
become more demanding. Whereas substantial volumes of mails are delivered through the
traditional postal systems, same-day or overnight door-to-door delivery services are expected. Private
Licensed courier operators fill this gap. The license authorizes them to carry and convey articles by land
.air and water within Uganda for local licensees and beyond for regional and international licensees.
Indicative Business Opportunities in the Sector
Coverage of servicesThe activities of the private couriers are mainly centered within and between the major urban
centres, while Posta Uganda covers a much wider area of the country. Currently UPL has a network of
11 Regional Head Post Offices, 51 Departmental Post Offices, 255 Sub-Post Offices, over 1623
Stamp Vendors and 70,865 installed private post office boxes. While only a very small proportion
(about 5%) of UPL mail is delivered to home or office addresses, the rest of the deliveries are made through private letterboxes located at Post Offices.
Business Process Outsourcing
Call Centre Services and Business Support
E-Commerce & M-Commerce Solutions and B2B   solutions
Software Development and Training Opportunities
Software testing & Assurance
Data Integration
Data Warehousing and data warehousing
Integrated Solutions Planning
Hardware Equipment Assembly
Multimedia Development
Internet Applications & E-Translation Services
Rural Communications
Broadband Service provision
Software Solutions for Financial Sector
Network Computing /Management software
Intranet Internet &Extranet Applications
Professional Solutions for Manufacturing Industry
IT Education and Training and setting up of ICT  virtual zones