K2 Telecom leaves Africell for troubled UTL

June 27, 2016 in Business, Communications, Companies, Infrastructure, Technology & Telecoms by Editor

KAMPALA, JUNE 27 – Buganda kingdom linked telecom operator K2 Telecom is set to switch hosts to Uganda Telecom, ending its troubled relationship with Orange Telecom successor Africell that has recently been the subject of arbitration and court action.

Sources at K2 Telecom who claim the network has no outstanding dues to its current host say the network will be migrating to UTL at the end of its contract with Africell that is tailing off shortly. K2 was forced to settle an Ushs2 billion outstanding claim against it in interconnection fees after it was switched off by Africell.

Sources familiar with the dispute say it stems from a longstanding grievance by K2 which has 600,000 subscribers against Africell for refusing to extend the range of products the former could offer. K2 had wanted to get access to data and mobile money services but the two failed to reach an agreement. K2 felt its growth potential was being stifled by its host.

Information merging now suggests that K2 has found accommodation with industry lame-duck UTL who has agreed to give them access to data services and mobile money. It however, remains to be seen how much mileage K2 will gain given UTL’s notoriously poor data services.

UTL itself has been in the news for the wrong reasons. A breakdown in the shareholder structure after the collapse of Libya has left the company unable to raise capital and is currently embroiled in a legal scandal after it tried to encroach on its former employees’ savings with the National Social Security Fund.