For more than a year, Africell has been giving out free SIM cards to
subscribers using their street vendors. File Photo/Eronie Kamukama
Africell has joined other telecoms to start selling SIM cards as opposed to giving them out for free.
For more than a year, Africell has been giving out free SIM cards to subscribers using their street vendors.
With
this move, Africell still hopes to continue taking advantage of being
data bundle giants in the country as in most cases people have been
purchasing Africell SIM cards mainly to enjoy their fairly priced data
packages.
“In Africa, where almost all consumers use
cellphones on a pre-paid basis rather than on long-term contracts,
telecom operators face tough subscriber revenue growth conditions. But
soaring growth in demand for data services, as more young Africans get
online and increased smartphone penetration we believe that this will
drive up growth,” the chief commercial officer Africell Uganda Mr Neeraj
Gala said.
When asked if this move is meant to
overcome loopholes of using SIM cards for insecurity reasons, Mr Neeraj
said all their customers have been registering their lines through
proper channels.
The Executive Director of Uganda
Communications Commission Mr Godfrey Mutabazi, said as regulators they
do not have any problem with Africell stopping the issuing of free SIM
cards because this a business model they have decided to take on.
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