Use of mobile Internet set for growth in Uganda


Most consumers in Uganda already seem to know, that Internet usage on mobile phones, tablets around their home and connections through public places WiFi has become a habit that they cannot avoid. I was speaking to telco manager in charge of value added services for a leading operator in the country who informed me that Uganda market at least, around more than half of tablets sold are specified with either 3G or 3.5 G mobile Internet connectivity. And, of that number, close to 70 % are connected to network operators through a data plan. The telco manager estimates that half of those data subscribers are subsequently discontinued after a few weeks, meaning that only 25% of tablets in use in Uganda are being used as mobile devices in the same way like smartphones. In theory, this could also means that 90% of tablets in Uganda are being used as replacements or as additional support for desktop computers and televisions. 
The most recent data on tablet app use shows that their usage peaks in the evening while the same data relating to smartphones reveals that app usage is continuous throughout the day with peaks during early morning, lunchtime and in the evening. The same data indicates that when it comes to smartphone apps, users are always plugged in the next day. Consumers in Uganda seems to have abandoned desktops and notebooks in favour of smartphones and tablets for surfing the Web, using social media and playing games just like their East African counterparts in Kenya, Tanzania and Rwanda. Among tablet owners in Uganda, 45% are said to be using their computer less and less, particularly for browsing, and 50% said that they were using a PC less often for accessing Twitter and Facebook that are the two most popular social networking sites in Uganda. In my observation this explain the growing popularity of phablet devices in Uganda which are essentially smartphones but offer a larger screen for consuming rich media content such as gaming and sports betting which is a huge industry in the country.



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