When one talks about 4G LTE networks in Uganda, chances are high that Africell, MTN, Smile Communications or Vodafone will be the first thing that will come to one’s mind. Well, there is another kid on the block and they are called Tangerine Uganda. When they first launched in Uganda, Tangerine relied on the olden CDMA mobile technology which caused them a lot of issues. With rarely any advertisement in the media, Tangerine has developed a unique silent strategy in trying to penetrate and make it big in Uganda’s highly competitive telecom sector.
For starters CDMA was a slow internet technology, in the 850 MHz spectrum which was adjacent to the LTE 800 MHz band. In 2013, when other 4G carriers deployed their 4G networks in the same frequency range, it caused interference. The telecom regulator UCC had to intervene to resolve the issues among the affected telecos viz; Smile communications, Orange/Africell Uganda and Tangerine the full story you can read here.
The data offerings and pricing
A few years down the road, the Kamwokya based teleco restrategized and has since dropped CDMA mobile technology in favor of 4G LTE and Fiber offering competitive internet bundles complete with MiFi modems. Theoretically, the carrier guarantees 4G LTE speeds between 1 Mbps to 4 Mbps depending on the package of your choice and will not go below 256 kbps. As shown in the table below, their bundles range from UGX 50,000 to UGX 150,000 for 15GB and 50GB respectively. If you compare with Africell Uganda, for about UGX 49,000 you get only 2GB per month which means Tangerine has its prices right for the market. But is it sustainable? It all comes down to the quality of the network and devices.
| PLANS | SPEED | USAGE ALLOWANCE | EXCEEDING UA | DURATION | PRICE |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LITE | 1 Mbps | 15 GB | 256 Kbps | 30 Days | UGX 50,000 |
| ELITE | 2 Mbps | 30 GB | 256 Kbps | 30 Days | UGX 90,000 |
| PRO | 4 Mbps | 50 GB | 256 Kbps | 30 Days | UGX 150,000 |
Tangerine Data bundles and pricing
In case you need to refill, your bundle Tangerine also offers two “juice up” data bundles of 2G and 5 GB for UGX 20,000 and UGX 35,000 receptively.
Tangerine has also sunk it’s teeth in Uganda’s corporate market, offering rather expensive packages leveraging on 4G and Fiber technology with data speeds ranging from 1 Mbps to 12 Mbps at $200 to $ 1,100 per month. The beauty about these packages is that they are “unlimited” and there is no throttling this means that for example if you pay $500 (UGX 1.8 million) for one a month, you will receive a maximum of 4 Mbps for the entire duration.
| PACKAGE | SPEED | PRICE | DURATION | CONNECTING TECHNOLOGY |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unlimited | 1 Mbps | 200 | 1 Month | LTE |
| Unlimited | 2 Mbps | 350 | 1 Month | LTE |
| Unlimited | 4 Mbps | 500 | 1 Month | LTE |
| Unlimited | 5 Mbps | 600 | 1 Month | FIBRE |
| Unlimited | 8 Mbps | 850 | 1 Month | FIBRE |
| Unlimited | 12 Mbps | 1100 | 1 Month | FIBRE |
Tangerine Data corporate bundles
The carrier also offer free installation for LTE post paid plans and also a one off Fiber installation charge that subject to site survey from the their nearest fiber position to your home or office. They will however charge you for on-site support at a rate of $ 20 per hour.
Network coverage and More
The company also offers other Value added services like domain hosting, VPN Connectivity, Video Conferencing, Telephony, Security Surveillance, Access Control and any other Value Added IP based solutions.
When it come to LTE coverage, Tangerine has its footprint in Kampala, Mukono and Entebbe in the areas listed below.
