Smile Communications subscribers have been offline for over 5 days and one thing is clear– they are not happy about this. The company recently communicated to its customers that they are restoring their services and that it could take longer than anticipated. In a recent tweet, they confirmed that “we may not have a definite timeline at the moment, however, once we do, we shall update you accordingly.” The cause of the network shutdown is not yet clear, with some speculating that the telecom may soon run out of business.
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Whether the client’s time will be compensated, Smile said that their management will take a review after the restoration. They however confirmed that they will reimburse the user’s data once the service is restored.
You should consider closing if your have no capability of restoration within 24hrs. Some of us really put our trust in you and we have lost millions due to the wrong choices we made by hooking on to you. You have personally made me miss Africel.
— The Illest Dj Bobby. (@DjBobbyUg) February 3, 2022
This is not the first time it is happening in 2018, Smile Uganda experienced connectivity outages for 3 days running in most locations across the country. According to a statement from the company, this was a result of a failure in resolving an outstanding financial dispute with some of their tower providers (TowerCo), who had opted to disable connectivity throughout the various base stations under their management especially in areas on Ntinda, Kiwatule, Bugolobi, etc.
At the time, Smile leadership engaged Towerco and with UCC being the mediator to resolve their issues amicably to avoid any further disruption of services. The company is however still tight-lipped in regards to the cause of the current network issues.
