GOOGLE SET TO ENTER THE UGANDAN WIFI MARKET
(Posted 05th December 2015)
Google has reportedly entered the Ugandan WiFi market in the capital Kampala after investing in a fibre optic network spanning some 800 kilometres. Word from Uganda has it that the infrastructure will be availed to local ISP’s, aka Internet Service Providers, which are then expected to lower their cost of WiFi services to the public to enable a broader access and making use of the internet as a resource base for both individuals and companies.
Facebook two months ago equally came out with plans to launch satellites for easier accessibility especially in the less served rural areas of Africa or smaller towns, as, honestly speaking, the East African capitals including Kampala are already well served by modern networks like 4GLTE.
It is not known what impact on the cost of data bundles this initiative may have but a price of approximately 1.000 Uganda Shillings per day, equivalent to less than 30 US Cents, for unlimited access has been floated already but is yet to be confirmed.
If so, would Ugandan internet users with smart phones, phablets and tablets be able to receive streaming content which in the past was all but ruled out due to the fact that such access was gobbling up data bundles in no time.
Of an estimated population of 39 million Ugandans have statistics provided by the Uganda Communications Commission, the industry regulatory watchdog, spoken of just under 9 million internet users which would constitute a quarter of the population. The service will be available for both local users as well as visitors from abroad who could access it after purchasing a Sim card from a local ISP and registering it at the point of sale to meet local legal requirements.
