The costs of Internet service provision (ISP) by the government have reduced from $1200 (UGX…) in 2013 to $35 (about UGX 130,000) in megabits per second, this represents a 97% decline in costs by the Minister of ICT and National Guidance, Dr. Chris Baryomunsi, has said. This is all thanks to the new regional communication infrastructure project (RCIP).
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“One of the issues the public has had is the cost of the Internet and the government has been handling it. The project in partnership with World Bank has reduced the cost of the Internet to $35 megabits per second,” the ICT Minister said. The RCIP is an initiative undertaken by National Information and Technology Authority Uganda (NITA-U).
The ICT ministry aims to prioritize the affordability of Internet services, especially among youth to enable jobs and wealth creation. According to the minister, the adoption of ICT in service delivery is part of transforming the country into a knowledge-based economy through the establishment of conducive policies, legal, and institutional reforms.
During the launch of the RCIP, Dr. Hatwib Mugasa, the NITA-U executive director, said they have been able to integrate government systems, banks, and the private sector through its latest project. He said that the project is a success because there were 600 government offices that were connected in 2020. Through RCIP, the government able to connect additional 1,200 government offices over a period of two years.
According to NITA-U, an average government data system would cost the government $500,000 (Shs1.9b) every year in recurring costs such as electricity, licensing, cooling, and maintenance.
“But through RCIP, we were able to consolidate those systems into one location, the National Data Centre. Now, each system costs $10,000 (Shs38m) annually and we have been able to save $93m (Shs355b) in one year for 190 systems that we hosted at the National Data Centre last year,” the NITA-U boss said.
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