Users of Lycamobile, a fast growing telecom company in Uganda have expressed hope of filling the void that Africell is about to leave.
They say, since Africell is leaving the country in a few weeks, then it will be time for their network to shine.
Africell last week officially announced to the public that the telecom will be ceasing all its Ugandan operations on 7th October which is a few weeks from now.
Why is Africell running away from Uganda
After about 7 years of operation the telecom giant which is headquartered in London, United Kingdom has called it quits with the Ugandan market.
This is because it failed to realise its vision of being a leader in mobile services and giving an impact in the digital transformation of the society.
Even after all its massive advertising campaigns on TV, Radio and the Internet, the company failed to convince Ugandans to join its services as most of them stuck to MTN and Airtel.
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Although Africell was considered as the 3rd biggest telecom in Uganda with over 2 million subscribers, its weaknesses were always seen over the years in comparison to other telecoms.
A good example is in 2018 when airtime scratch cards were banned and Africell had to strike a deal with MTN in order to enable its customers purchase airtime. This meant, Africell had to share sensitive customer information with MTN.
So if a small thing like investing in an independent mobile money solution was a problem then Africell was directly headed for doom because on a serious note, how do you share data with your competitor, MTN!
UCC last week also went ahead to give Africell terms and conditions of departure and these included paying off all its debts and enabling its existing customers to switch to other networks. This is all expected to be completed by November 30th, a date when the company's last employees will leave work.
Now time for Lycamobile
Lycamobile which is believed to be next in line in terms of subscribers to MTN and Airtel now that Africell is departing is set to see an increase in market share according to some of its current customers.
WATCH VIDEO: Sheebah Performs at Lycamobile launch in Uganda, January 2020
They say, now that Africell is gone, their carrier will definitely fill that void and become the 3rd biggest telecom in Uganda. This is because Lyca recently acquired a National Operator Licence that requires them to set up network coverage in over 90% of the geographical area of the country.
The NTO (National Operator Licence) separates Lycamobile and Africell in that, in only 5 years, Lyca will have more network coverage than Africell had in all its 7 years of operation.
Lyca's Internet
Lyca is known for having the cheapest mobile data in the country and has commonly been tagged to be the network of a poor man because of its low prices.
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However, Lyca is also known for having very unstable network especially in urban areas and on devices that do not have 4G mode enabled.
Weirdly, places in western Uganda like Mbarara, Rukungiri receive very stable network from the same Lycamobile and we have heard folks from there telling us that the telecom in terms of Internet speeds is the same as Airtel or MTN standards.
The cost of simcards is also another negative factor because just one simcard of Lyca can go for a whooping UGX. 50,000, other merchants sell the cards at 25,000 while Lyca officially sells them at 10,000 which is relatively high compared to other networks whose sim cards cost a meagre 2000 shillings.
To top it off, the sim cards are also extremely rare to find due to their high demand.
