UCC tasks telecoms to engage consumers on data discrepancies
The Executive director of Uganda Communications Commission, Mr George William Nyombi Thembo, says telecom companies should work towards consumer protection while operating in a competitive environment to avoid the growing concerns among consumers regarding data usage discrepancies.
Thembo was speaking during the town hall meeting on Internet Data consumer concerns with different relecom stakeholders in Kampala where the telecoms pledged to sensitise Ugandans on how to overcome data depletion.
According to the quarterly report released by Uganda Communications Commission in August 2023, telecommunications networks posted a combined 138.5 million GBs in downloads during the period between January – March 2023.
This is a 9.2 million GB growth in comparison with the 129.3 million GBs recorded at the end of December 2022.
For the first time, the spike in internet traffic is inconsistent with the seasonal traffic drops that always occur following the November and December annual traffic peaks, says the report, attributing this largely to the continued adoption of internet usage by households and businesses of all sizes.
Speaking during the Internet data consumer concern stake holder engagement, the Commission noted that telecom companies should engage more on sensitization campaigns in a bid to close the information gap of data depletion.
The Executive director of UCC further implored users to avoid opening unnecessary windows with numerous applications arguing that this could help in the fight against data depletion.
“let’s go on ground and teach the consumers because if you don’t teach them no one will teach them, let’s work towards consumer protection”, Nyombi said.
In February, social media was washed with complaints from internet users on how fast the data they load on their digital devices like mobile phones and computers gets depleted before even serving the intended purpose with most of these accusations being addressed to telecom companies.
