Uganda’s Airtel and MTN Doubles Call Rates as Price War Reality Sinks In

Early this year (2011), mobile operators in Uganda were on a war bath trying to out do each other on the voice and to a certain degree on data. The rates fell by more than 50% to the range of Ush 1 per second or Ush 200 per minute. But that is set to change as Airtel and MTN are all saying that the “operational overheads” are forcing them to adjust the rates upwards.

Starting Saturday (September 3rd) MTN has announced that it will charge Ush 4 per second from the previous Ush 2 per second or Sh 240 per minute for off-net calls. Previously, MTN network clients paid Ush 3 per second for calls to other networks. Airtel Uganda clients will have to pay Ush 4 per second or Ush 240 per minute which replaces the Ush 3 per second  or Ush 180 per minute it charged before.