Africell, K2 divorce set for February 2017

August 22, 2016 in Business, Communications, Companies, Infrastructure, Technology & Telecoms by Editor

KAMPALA, AUGUST 22 – Fringe telecom operators Africell and Buganda kingdom linked K2 Telecom have set the end of February 2017as the date for their formal separation from what has lately been a troubled relationship.

According to usually reliable sources, the two operators who were in court earlier this year over a commercial dispute have agreed to ride the remaining tenure of their three year contract. “Actually, I wouldn’t call it a divorce because there is no dispute between the parties at the moment. K2 have met their financial obligations to their carrier and Africell has committed to honor its end of the bargain for the remainder of the service contract,” the source told 256BN.

K2 Telecom launched services just over two years ago as a tier-two operator using Africell’s predecessor Orange’s infrastructure. Trouble surfaced late last year when Africell tried to walk out of the contract and sometimes denying carriage to K2.

It is understood that K2 telecom will effective March 2017, migrate to Uganda Telecom which has accepted to offer them the full range of products including data services and mobile money transfer, ambitions that had been stifled by Africell which instead saw K2 as a competitor rather than a customer.

Although still largely a niche operator, K2 has established a loyal following that has seen its subscriber base inch past the half a million mark. At least 67 percent of this base is active according to the network’s traffic data with Kampala the main market originating some200,000 calls daily. Masaka follows with 80,000, Mubende 40,000 and Jinja 15,000 calls. The network is also attracting traffic from regions far afield such as Arua, Gulu and Mbale.

Officials at the company believe that with the value add of data and financial services, the network will be able to grow its slice of the Uganda telecom market.