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MTN exhausts 077, 078 codes
New mobile phone subscribers seeking to join MTN will be issued Sim cards with a new code outside the 077 and 078 ranges. Photo | Edgar R Batte
What you need to know:
- The exhaustion means that the 077 and 078 codes will no longer be available for new customers. MTN has already obtained permission from Uganda Communication Commission to use 076 prefix for pre-paid clients.
MTN will cease issuing the 077 and 078 coded numbers after exhausting the allowable limit.
MTN, which has been operating the two codes for more than 20 years, starting with 077, before introducing the 078, said at the weekend will retire the codes that have been available for prepaid customers.
The telecom operates other codes including 031 and 039. At the weekend, MTN indicated Uganda Communications Commission had already granted a request for a new code that will be available for new prepaid customers.
Mr Somdev Sen, the MTN chief marketing officer, said the 077 and 078 codes had already been exhausted and will no longer be issued.
“MTN has stopped selling 077 and 078 ranges. Those are no longer available,” he said, noting that this was a signal of the rapid expansion in the telecom’s subscriber numbers over the years.
MTN broke the Celtel monopoly in 1998, presenting one of the toughest competitions, in Uganda’s telecom history in which it quickly became the market leader with a range of services.
Celtel has since exited the market after selling its operations to Zain, which later sold to Airtel.
In its 2020 annual financial results, MTN indicated its market share in Uganda had grown to 14.1 million subscribers, which represented a percentage growth of 4.1 per cent.
Uganda, according to data from Bank of Uganda, which by virtual of regulating mobile money operations obtains some details from the telecom sector, currently has about 31 million mobile telephone subscribers shared between UTL, Africell, Airtel, MTN and others.
MTN has been the fastest growing, averaging at 9 per cent annually, boosted by a wide network of mobile money and internet connectivity.
At least 99 per cent of mobile phone subscribers have mobile money as a function while at least 45 per cent access the internet through mobile phones.
The telecom sector continues to benefit from rapid growth in mobile phone penetration, which currently stands at more than 60 per cent, according to UCC.
The Growth has also been supported by new innovations in non-traditional products, among which include mobile money, data and internet connectivity.
Uganda currently has 30.7 mobile money subscribers. However, 10.9 million of these are inactive while there are about 15 million Ugandans that access the internet on mobile devices, according to data from UCC.
The exhaustion of coding illustrates the extent of service demands currently driven by digital technology.
Other telecoms that operate more than one codes include Airtel, which operates the 075 and 070 codes.
The telecom inherited the 070 code from Warid, after it acquired its operations in 2013.
At the weekend, Mr Sen said that whereas a limited number of the retired codes will be available for subscribers through number recycling, the telecom had already secured a new code - 076 - that will be available for new prepaid subscribers.
Phone number recycling reintroduces deactivated or disconnected lines into a pool of available numbers that are eligible for assignment to a new customer.
A number is recycled if the previous owner has not used it for any activity for more than six months and has not formally notified the telecom of their intention and interest to keep it.
