Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) is investigating telecommunications company, Airtel over misleading subscribers and prospective clients with deceptive claims over the network’s fourth-generation (4G) internet capabilities.
Airtel launched unveiled the fourth generation internet service in February this year following an extensive advertising campaign of the company’s allegedly strong country-wide network.
Speaking at the launch, Airtel Uganda Managing Director, V.G. Somasekhar, said the company invested US$800million in the last eight years in upgrading its network countrywide. He said the company boasts of 1,632 network sites and over 3,900 kilometers of fiber optic, making it possible for subscribers to enjoy an improved experience in internet-based activities.
“This encompasses video conferencing, video calling, video streaming, gaming services, and mobile internet access,” he said.
4G enables the use of multimedia programs such as video streaming, video chat on Skype, SMS messaging, audio applications, and mobile TV applications free of issues such as buffering, latency, and other problems that commonly occur with slower connections.
However, UCC investigation has found that Airtel’s network speeds are much lower than what is internationally expected for a 4G network service.
“Following preliminary investigations conducted in the sampled towns of Kampala, Mukono, Entebbe and Jinja to establish the level of coverage and download throughput of Airtel’s 4G network, the Commission found that whereas Airtel’s LTE signal was available in over 90% of the areas sampled, the network speeds were much lower than what is internationally expected for a 4G network service”, a statement released by UCC reads.
Airtel is one of Uganda’s biggest telecom company with an estimated 10m subscribers.