Four-Day Internet Shutdown Cost Uganda’s Telecoms an Estimated UGX 24 Billion in Lost Data Revenues How the nationwide blackout hit Airtel Uganda and MTN Uganda’s data revenues and why internet shutdowns are now a major economic risk.

Paul MurungiJanuary 21, 2026January 21, 2026

A photo collage of Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) Executive Director, Nyombi Thembo, Airtel Uganda Managing Director, Soumendra Sahu, and MTN Uganda CEO, Sylvia Mulinge. UCC last week instructed telecoms to switch off internet over national security concerns during the general elections.

Uganda’s two largest mobile network operators, Airtel Uganda and MTN Uganda, are estimated to have lost between UGX 22.8 billion and UGX 24 billion in data revenues following the four-day nationwide internet shutdown. The shutdown that was effected at 6 pm on Tuesday last week and lasted until late Saturday, highlights the rising financial cost of digital disruptions as data services become central to telecoms’ business models. The estimate is based on the operators’ most recent publicly available financial results and focuses strictly on data revenues, which are directly affected when internet access is restricted. To avoid overstating the impact,…

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