Keeping call rates low and making handsets affordable are vital to the future success of Uganda's telecom industry, Warid Telecom's chief commercial officer said. Shailendra Naidu said that in order to increase penetration from its current 35 percent level, the cost of using mobile phones must continue to be reduced. Naidu added that the continued high call rates and the overall cost of mobile phones in the country have limited the growth of the sector, but that with efforts by operators, the country can see a boom to the industry. The Warid official said that if operators are buttressed by the Ugandan government and the Uganda Communications Commission (UCC), mobile penetration can grow by at least one percent monthly. “A price ceiling affects affordability. Putting rates at Shs2 per second will make it too expensive for customers in this era of rising commodity prices. Market forces should be left to control prices,” Naidu added. Uganda has been in the midst of continued price wars, which analysts say will assist the growth of the industry, but which a number of telecom operators have said will adversely affect their profit margins. “For the customer, it is a positive to have price wars because that means the costs they are charged is reduced and overall, companies should see it as a way of increasing new subscribers,” said Jonathan Yingale, a Kampala-based IT expert. BM
