Airtel Uganda has announced an investment partnership with BCS, with support from Facebook to improve the telecom infrastructure in Uganda.
The investment will see a total of nearly 800 KM of optical fiber laid in North West Uganda – covering Gulu, Adjumani, Arua, Koboko, Nebbi and Kamdini areas – which will be funded jointly by Airtel, BCS and Facebook.
Talking about BCS and its involvement in the Project, Mr. Yonas Maru – Managing Director BCS commended Facebook and Airtel for realizing that coming together to build reliable communication infrastructure can only work to make sure that in the long run the customer, the country and the people win. Reliable and dependable communication infrastructure helps to demolish all manner of boundaries and put local people firmly on the path to becoming global citizens. We at BCS are very happy to be part of this partnership and like in the past where we have been at the forefront of making sure that Internet in Uganda is accessible, reliable and affordable, we will forge ahead and keep opening new frontiers”.
“This investment supports our mission to bring internet access to the remaining 50% of the world’s population who are not yet connected. We’re excited to partner with Airtel and BCS in Uganda on this open access fiber backhaul project – bringing expanded data capacity to a region where it’s currently limited. We hope to continue to expand this model to partner with more operators and connect more people around the world,” said Kojo Boakye, Facebook’s African Public Policy manager.
“This investment is in line with our promise to provide the Latest Technology, Fastest Network and Widest Coverage at the most affordable cost. We at Airtel believe that internet is the future and as such have invested heavily to ensure that our customers are part of the future now. This partnership with Facebook & BCS will see faster speeds and better internet experience on the smartphone network,” commented Mr. Anwar Soussa – Airtel Uganda’s Managing Director.
ICT is the fastest-growing economic element in Uganda and with appropriate partnerships like the one we are witnessing this morning, we the regulator are pleased that the underserved rural communities of Uganda are getting access to ICT, noted Mr. Godfrey Mutabazi – Executive Director UCC.
Mr. Bagiire Vincent Waiswa – Permanent Secretary of the ICT Ministry, commended Airtel, Facebook & BCS for the strategic partnership that will foster growth in the North West region. “We need more investment in data, because that is what the global community is heading,” he added.
Over the years, Airtel Uganda has signed strategic partnership with the leading technology partners like IBM, Facebook, Nokia, Ericsson, Huawei and ZTE in order to ensure that subscribers have the best data & telecom service experience across the entire country. With this partnership, Ugandans countrywide, starting with those in the North West, will be able to stand at par with any subscriber in Kampala or any other developed country for their ICT needs whether for business, NGOs, education, medical, social integration or administration improvement.