Until 2007, mobile phone subscribers had largely known voice and short message texting needs.
In fact, for a long time, the mobile phone had no major use apart from making and receiving calls, and occasionally sending short text messages.
However, in 2007, after 11 years of launching in 1998, MTN broke new ground with the launch of WiMAX broadband services, a cutting-edge product that would propel mobile phone users into the future.
By 2007, it had been 12 years since the launch of the first mobile phone in Uganda by Celtel, and later by MTN, which launched in 1998.
Thus, the launch of WiMAX presented a new shift that years later has become the new battle line and strong revenue stream for the telecoms, amid changing dynamics and consumer behaviour.
Today, according to data from Uganda Communications Commission, the telecom sector regulator, the biggest portion of mobile phone user spend goes on data, which confirms that subscribers have moved away from legacy telephone services such as voice to innovations that operate on the internet.
And telecoms understand this is the future, which is why much of their capital expenditures are now directed to enhancing internet connectivity and user experience.
For instance, according to existing financial reports, both MTN and Airtel invested a combined UGX893.7 billion in infrastructure projects in 2024, with focus on 4G and 5G sites.
The investments have enhanced user experience, driving up user spend, a large part of which is spent on data.
UCC data contained in the 2024 December Market Performance Report indicates that during the month, on average mobile phone users spent UGX15,373, of which at least 66%, equivalent to UGX10,178, which was an increase from UGX8,918, went on data, with each of the about 19.5 million internet subscribers consuming an average of five gigabytes (GBs) of data per month.
Data is only rivaled by on-net voice calls, which take just 30.6% of the average monthly user spend, averaging UGX4,708, a slight increase from UGX4,412, while off-net voice calls and short text messages take the least amount of 1.77% or UGX273 and 1.38% or UGX213, respectively.
The user spend shift on data is further illustrated by another UCC March 2025 Market Performance Report, in which, even when there was a reduction in user spend from UGX15,373 to UGX14,208, data still consumed the largest portion of UGX9,133, representing a percentage of 64.2% and 4.3 gigabytes (GBs), which was, however, a slight reduction from the five gigabytes in December.
The report further shows that on-voice spend dropped slightly to 4,605, but increased in terms of the percentage to 32.4%, while user spend on off-net voice and short text messaging remained the lowest.
As of March 2025, there were at least 22.3 million mobile internet subscribers, which illustrates the importance of data to telecoms, with a compound growth rate of 14%.
Tribunal Backs URA in UGX 10.2 Billion Century Bottling Tax FightHowever, in terms of real revenue, voice, while it has been registering reductions over the years, remains the largest source of telecom revenue.
For instance, available data indicates that data revenues have been growing at the fastest rate compared to voice.
For instance, in the 12 months to December 2024, Airtel data revenue grew by 25.3% to UGX899.76 billion while voice revenues grew by just 2.3% to UGX1.01 trillion.
On the other hand, MTN reported a 30.5% growth in data revenue to UGX811.8 billion, while voice revenues grew by 12.7% to UGX1.25 trillion.
The two telecoms, thus, reported a combined UGX1.71 trillion from data revenues compared to UGX2.26 trillion from voice revenue.
Telecoms have been diversifying their revenue sources due to reductions in earnings from legacy revenue streams.
The telecom sector has been registering tremendous growth in both value and service portfolios, largely driven by an increase in data consumption, supported by rapid growth in internet penetration to 22.5 million active users and smartphone usage, which in March 2025 rose to 18 million.
Voice, even as it continues to experience contractions, still contributes the largest share of telecom sector revenues.
However, telecoms understand that the future is data, shifting capital allocation to data-driven infrastructure development.
For instance, during the 12 months leading to December 2024, Airtel reported capital expenditure of UGX244 billion, a significant portion of which was allocated to supporting the rollout of 4G sites. The telecom added 165 sites, achieving a full 100% of 4G-enabled sites, while further investments were directed towards adding 150 5G sites.
On the other hand, MTN reported capital investments of UGX 649.7 billion, of which UGX 418.0 billion excludes leases. The telecom largely invested in building “second-to-none networks and platforms”, enabling it to advance its technologies and expand network coverage with a total of 1,093 sites deployed during 2024, of which 754 are 4G and 5G-enabled.
