MTN hosts ICT Ministry for site visit at Mutundwe Data center
- MTN yesterday hosted a delegation from the Ministry of ICT and National Guidance spearheaded by the State Minister and the Permanent Secretary for a site visit of its switch and data center in Mutundwe.
- Mutundwe switch and data center is a prime facility that houses MTN data servers and facilitates connection of the telecom’s 15million customers through 2G, 3G and 4G network across the country.
- Government lauded MTN for the investments made in the sector and its efforts towards providing quality services to the public.
Addressing the officials in Mutundwe yesterday, Vanhelleputte,MTN Uganda Chief Executive Officer welcomed and appreciated the State Minister and her delegates for taking the time to tour the site.
“I would like to thank the Government of Uganda for creating an enabling environment for business growth and prosperity through continuous dialogue and collaboration with the private sector with the aim of extending quality services to the entire population,” Vanhelleputte said.
The $256million Mutundwe switch and data center commissioned in 2012, is a prime facility that houses MTN data servers and facilitates connection of the telecom’s 15million customers through 2G, 3G and 4G network across the entire country.
According to Ali Monzer, MTN Uganda’s Chief Technical Information Officer, Mutundwe switch and data center is one of two parent sites owned by MTN through which network signals are transmitted to facilitate calls across the country.
“MTN has six sites distributed across the country including Mutundwe and Mbuya which are the parent sites (brain) of the operations supported by other minor sites in Mbarara, Masindi, Lira and Tororo to enable MTN provide services such as voice calls, data and mobile money,” he said.
Monzer also added: “It is with the support of these sites that the 2550 masts owned by MTN provide 97% population coverage on 2G, 91% coverage on 3G and 61% population coverage on LTE which sums up to 72% land mass coverage.”
In accordance with its licence obligation, MTN will within the next two years further invest in the expansion of land mass coverage beyond 72% to 90%.
Acknowledging the investment made at the site, Hon Ssebugwawo prized MTN’s commitment and efforts in ensuring quality service delivery to the public noting that the telecom plays a pivotal role in bolstering economic growth of the country.
“I would like to take this opportunity to commend MTN for the great work it is doing. I was greatly impressed by the state-of-the-art facilities housed at this data center that have facilitated service provision to the public for so many years,” Hon Ssebugwawo said, committing government’s continued support towards growth of the ICT sector.
The State Minister was reiterated by the Permanent Secretary, Dr Zawedde who said that the investment made by MTN into the telecom sector gives the Ministry assurance and comfort in the potential growth of the communication services in the country.
She also appealed for collaboration and harmonious synchronization amongst the stakeholders to boost digitization of the economy through continual innovation.
About MTN Uganda
MTN Uganda is a leading telecoms company in Uganda with a primary objective of carrying on the business of a national operator of a telecommunications network pursuant to the NTO licence granted by the UCC. Among our offerings are network services, digital and financial technology services, interconnect and roaming, sale of mobile devices and MTN Mobile Money (which is conducted through subsidiary MTN Mobile Money Uganda Limited). MTN has a presence in all 134 districts of Uganda. Our services are delivered through a network of 119 077 Mobile Money agents, 200 service stores and 13 main distributors. At end-June 2021, MTN Uganda had 14.9 million subscribers, 8.6 million MoMo users and 4.7 million active data users.
For more information, please contact:
Rhona Arinaitwe
Senior Manager Corporate communication