Smart Telecom swaggered onto the Ugandan telecommunication scene with the most compelling services any Telecom company had in Uganda then. Its alluring offers placed it as the presumptive leader in Uganda’s telecom space, but trouble was just within a whisker. Right now, Smart Telecom Internet is off! Is Smart leaving Uganda?
Catering for the price cautious Ugandan with affordable voice and data packages really requires some good financial muscles. Smart Telecom came onto the scene with an arsenal of affordable everything, but soon everything went wrong. Currently almost all service centers have been closed down, internet off and also no more voice packages.
It should be remembered that the Uganda Communications Commissions (UCC) revoked Smart Telecom’s licenses just two years after its launch but things were put back to “normal” with in days. The telecom company that had plans to expand to Burundi and Tanzania has since struggled to survive in Uganda.
The black out!
For a couple of months, it’s been quiet at the Smart Telecom ends. Several customers have complained of the telecom’s inability to solve customer issues. The telecom went quiet without a proper explanation to their “esteemed customers”. Customers have taken the battle ground to Smart Uganda’s Facebook page to demand for an explanation but all in vain.
Three months later, Smart Telecom took to their Facebook page and posted;
“Dear our esteemed customers we’re having a temporary interference with the Internet, we’re sorry for the inconvenience caused and we kindly request for your patience as our engineering team is resolving this technical difficulty. Our sincere apologies.”
What followed is a heartbreaking comments thread of insults and complaints. Many people noted that Smart Telecom Internet disappeared over three months ago. Others complained of bigger problems than the Internet pointing out that there is a total network absence in most areas that formerly had it.
Is Smart Telecom leaving Uganda?
Uganda’s telecoms sector has seen many telecom companies brought to their knees and slain in cold blood. Most of the staff have been retrenched and most are speculating that the company will still throw in the towel. Some have left waving white flags, while others sold out. The most recent occurrence is when Vodafone closed operations in Uganda. The same reasons why Vodafone failed in Uganda could lead to Smart Telecom’s total demise.
