FreeFufu.com

Thanks for the article.

Oh I love the new ideas that are coming out to help the pipo in the rural areas get adjusted to the new technologies that are being made to help the person deep in the village and those in towns of rural areas.

Its true that mobile fon communication has helped alot in business and in a lot of transations more especially as the pipo are able to fon to the local FM radio stations and send their greetings and give their contributions to the lively discussions on these FM radio stations. Adn whereas one in the past had to move say from Mubende to kampala to see another person, now its much cheaper to call and talk with that person by fon rather than go thru the bother of taking a taxi and moving all those miles only to find that the person you went to see is not there or has gone to where you are coming from .SAnd then you are asked by others:  why did you not call him by fon to find out if he is there?

And when it comes to empowering the rural pipo and as for this case empowering the rural women,

 then i say Uganda Oyee, Longlive Uganda, Uganda - move forward = Tembea  mbele -- in swahili

admin:

Views from Fiona: Motopower - Motorola Empowering Rural Ugandan Women

How has the cell fon industry or the mobile fons as they are called in Uganda -- how have the affected the Rural Uganda n terms of communication?

http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/8/220/584470

http://www.mtn.co.ug/

its MTN

            then Celtel

                             then UTL

                                    all of these cellfon, mobilefon companies

                                                                        offering concessions to attract customers

http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/8/220/584470  -  MTN explains the traffic jam

           http:www.mtn.co.ug/

                             http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/8/220/585080  --  Celtel coverage is 92%

                                            http://www.monitor.co.ug/business/bus09062.php  -  UTL halves call rates

Yeah rite! more like freebies from hell!!! This is akeen to opening up a stampeed to insanity, either that or training in the art of perseverance akeen to chinese water torture.  What's often left out in this clever though very annoying marketing ploy (organised grand-theft/chaos in communication) is that participants are unaware they are playing in a form of communication russian roulette.  One also is to remember that in order to utilise this free airtime you gotta be in credit by a certain limit set by your subscriber - the figure is debatable depending on the mood of the human operating the cyber machines. Prayers too that the persons you wish to call is awake someplace he/she feels safe to whip out their handset to accept your call.

One thing though - I now realise why its darn difficult to get through to people back home when calling from abroad. If it aint being cut-off mid call, you run the gauntlet of one-sided conversations (come to think of it I am not a stranger to this) whereupon its constant questions of "ompulira simanyi?? akakyi? etc" of just plain "it has not been possible to connect your call ..."

BTW, I need therapy as for some reason of late, I don't seem capable of keeping a cellphone for longer than 2mths without it deciding to part company with me!

Lol @ SB- I share your frustrations with the phone companies. There is no free airtime even here in UK if they say free phone calls and txt messages some how some where just be aware that you are paying. If they cant resolve clear airwaves how can they genuinely offer free phone calls

OMG SB is back welcome back gf.  Pictures of you visit please.  I hear you on connecting in Uganda, sometimes it takes days to get through.

I will send you an email to tell you about my daughter when she was in London during the rains.  I was ready to give you a call to check on her but then I remembered you were on your way to Uganda.  It scared me what happened to her.

Welcome back

Free airtime my foot! Last nite, I needed to make an urgent phone call. It was a cross-network phone call for which MTN's 'extra airtime' kiwani was irrelevant. I couldn't do thru! I now have 2 handsets one 4 MTN and the other for Celtel. (Remember my earlier MTN woes? http://ugpulse.com/ugandan-community/blogs/kakokoolo/archive/2007/05/09/MTN-Uganda-a-pain.aspx)

Because  Celtel is in trying to wrestle customers from MTN, they always try to match MTN's deals, offer against offer. 2 weeks ago MTN introduced the cheapest brand new handset nicknamed 'Kabiriti' on the market. It costs UGX 49,000 and comes with UGX 5,000 worth of airtime (so u actually get it 4 UGX 44,000) and is promoted by Bobi Wine. Well, this week, Celtel introduced a new Nokia 1110 for UGX 65,000! Meanwhile, UTL Mango is offering 'absolutely' free calls during the same times when MTN and Celtel allow u 2 use your '50% extra' airtime. Needless 2 say, all these call offers are only valid if you are calling a number on the same network as you are.

Anyway, back 2 last nite, I then picked up my Celtel handset.  Could I get  thru? Wapi! I got so frustrated.  Infact, 2 test how badly the system was overloaded, I called the emergency numbas (112 & 999). The two phones both said the networks were too busy 2 connect the calls. Now I knew we are in trouble. If my house caught fire or I needed 2 call an ambulance (let's save the debate on how effective Uganda's emergency services are 4 another day), I could as well not bother!

Listen y'all Ugandan mobile 4n networks, u can stick your freebies. If you do not have the capacity to handle the number of calls that your promotions attract, we do not need your promos!! 

Wapi Kaks.  You aware these call boxes in Ug have SIM cards in them and some wise chaps have been knicking them out to use in their handsets over there?

Ps. Hello Vision - yes I was well and trully frustrated by this charade!

I have heard about those landline sim card syndicates in town. However, in Uganda 'call box' also refers to large, old fashioned mobile phones...

While u were away we started a slang thread:

http://ugpulse.com/ugandan-community/forums/6985/ShowThread.aspx#6985 

Hello SB- catching up with the UG slang is a challenge in itself! I have already been inducted whilst you were gone! When I was last in UG you could buy airtime for topping up a landline. I thought that was a fab idea but I dont kow how many ppl still ahve landlines in their homes.

 One thing I found realy frustrating though is the person who beeps you several times, they have heard that you are in town some how they have got of your local number and they want to speak with you but can't spare the money to buy airtime to tell whatever it is they want to say!

Hey Vision - are you free to meet up this weekend - hopefully Sunday's weather will not let us down.  Are you in Sunbury btw, or thereabouts?

Sadly most persons in Ug do not see the value of owning a landline. Not sure if it is out of the beauracracy involved in itemised billing which may be one's contribution to "bonnabogere" for free or difficulty in acquiring landlines.  Nowadays the cell phone has become so much a fashion statement if not prestige that most are happy to carry it just for the sake of accessorising like they would any odd garment.  I guess you cannot carry a landline around...hence the 'callbox'!  Have heart though for the "beepers"- the units of air time in Uganda are ludicrous. It would appear to be the case that one starts getting charged on the onset of dialing.  As for texting - well, well, well!  I think there's censoring going on by the networks - they randomly chose to deliver but most definitely charge you for venturing to pour ink...irrespective of whether the text is delivered or not.  So you see with the 'beeper-community' at least one is guaranteed to leave a mark!  But fellow bros and sistas - please remember to leave this habit behind when you board out of Ug!  It simply is not a done deal. 

lol SB, I will bell you regarding the weekend.

When the codes changed to include the 2 I didnt catch on straight away so you can imagine the txts that "got lost" in the system. I must say the beepers are laready here. A girl from Ghana wanted a reference from me and as I had not seen her in a period of 2 years when I missed her call i did not recognise her number, so I called it as a missed call and she informed me that " I was just raising you  as i want a reference for a job and wanted you to call me back

Lol! So you were to give a reference, but had to foot the bill for the provision too?  Kinda like those 'beepers' who require you to call them and on top of that make a request/demand for cash amongst all else...

As CHOGM draws nearer and as MTN-Celtel-UTL free extra airtime promotions have jammed the air waves....... now government has banned the free extra air time promos so as to ease communication prior-during and after the CHOGM

http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/8/12/593335

http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/8/220/593261

And now its 4 million Ugandans who have lost billions to mobile or cell fon companies/firms that had given the recently suspended airtime promotions

Government says:

No more congested or flooded networks before, during and hopefully after CHOGM

http://www.monitor.co.ug/news/news10251.php

TIICA:

No more congested or flooded networks before, during and hopefully after CHOGM

http://www.monitor.co.ug/news/news10251.php

Those of you in Kampala and upcountry Uganda tell us has the NETWORK CONGESTION disappeared for sure. are networks functioning back to normality???