Sharp differences have emerged among telecom operators over a call termination notice effective from Friday this week by embattled Airtel Uganda to financially unstable Uganda Telecom (UTL).
A similar dispute in 2011 over Shs10 billion in interconnection fees led Airtel into desperately suspending calls until the debt was cleared.
There have been rumours about Airtel’s imminent departure from the Ugandan market while UTL has issues over poor management, massive debt accumulation, none-paym
ent of obligations to other telecom companies and UCC.
In a surprise move, Monday’s newspapers were littered with an Airtel notice to customers, revealing that the “interconnection agreement and interconnection services between Airtel Uganda and UTL were terminated.”
“Airtel Uganda regrets to inform its customers that effective Friday 3rd February 2017, our subscribers will not be able to make calls to or receive calls from Uganda Telecom Limited,” the notice reads.
Last year, Airtel petitioned UTL in the commercial court to demand payment of the debt but UTL that is owned 69 per cent by the Libyan Government with Uganda holding a 31 per cent stake is yet to pay.
Interconnection is must among telecom networks for transmitting phone calls from one network to other. At present interconnection charges (IUC) are paid by one telecom operator to another for connecting call made by its subscriber to dialled number. These charges add up to determine phone call rates. IUC is determined based on the cost incurred by telecom operators in transmitting a call.
UTL so far has refrained from submitting their comments.
