MTN Uganda on Friday hosted the Ministry of Information, Communications Technology (ICT) and National Guidance Information for a courtesy visit at its data center in Mutundwe. A delegation from the Ministry led by State Minister for ICT, Hon Joyce Nabbosa Ssebugwawo accompanied by Dr Amina Zawedde, the Permanent Secretary visited the site where they were welcomed by MTN Chief Executive Officer, Wim Vanhelleputte.
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 landmass 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.
