Communications in Uganda

From 1948 to 1977, postal service in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda was provided by the East African Posts and Telecommunications Corporation.

[1] As of June 2018[update], the telephone communications system was described by the CIA factbook as "developed through private partnerships", with "over 1,800 kilometres (1,118 mi) of fiber optics", and 4G network available in most major cities and national parks, and 3G service available in second-tier urban centers.

Microwave radi relay, and radiotelephone communication stations are used in domestic telecommunications as well, and fixed and mobile cellular systems are used for short range traffic.

[2] As of March 2010[update] international telephone communication is catered for by an Intelsat and an Inmarsat satellite earth station, along with analog links to Kenya and Tanzania.

Infomail Uganda began operations with 16 customer dial up lines served by 16 USR 19,200 baud rack mounted modems.

A Sun Sparc "Pizzabox" Server on-site in Kampala managed all local internet services and user accounting.

Infomail Uganda Ltd was founded and managed by Dr. Jean Paul Minet in partnership with Kampala radio broadcaster Patrick Quarcoo (Capital FM) and William Pike, editor/publisher of The Nation newspaper.

[11] Though Uganda has made great technological strides in recent years, the country still faces a number of challenges in obtaining affordable, reliable Internet bandwidth.

[12] In July 2018 Uganda instituted a tax on "over the top" messaging and voice services, which includes social networks.

The stated purpose of the law is to provide additional government revenue, and to control "gossip" being spread over these platforms.

[16] In January 2021 the government ordered a complete Internet shutdown during the presidential election, that lasted 4 days.

The 2004 Uganda Broadcasting Corporation Act stated that the UBC should be funded by the levying of a television licence fee.

[22] Affordable data rates, increasing internet penetration and free blogging platforms such as Wordpress and Blogger are making internet users turn to blogging platforms to creatively express themselves, comment on current affairs, inform the public among other reasons.